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Will Verizon Be Unlocking the iPhone 5 for International Use with local carriers abroad like they do with the 4S?

Here is my situation. I am leaving the country on business in a month. Since it is pretty doubtful that an unlocked iPhone 5 will be available for pre-order tomorrow, I'll be buying one at full price under my verizon account (not due for an upgrade yet). Verizon currently SIM Unlocks the iPhone 4S if you meet certain requirements (account in good standing, active 60 days, phone activated on account, etc.) so you can use your iPhone abroad with a local carrier there for cheaper rates. Does anyone think Verizon will do this same procedure for the new iPhone 5? I understand that my new iPhone may not have 4G LTE capability abroad due to hardware limitations on different carrier models, however all new iPhone 5 models have quad band GSM/EDGE and 3G. Would I be able to use this feature if Verizon unlocked my iPhone? It should be noted I am not trying to unlock to use my phone on Tmobile or another US carrier, as with the 4S carriers put a block on this even for unlocked Verizon models. I am looking at this from the standpoint of a traveling business user (and I think there are a lot out there wondering the same thing). Nonetheless I will be preordering the iPhone 5 from Verizon and on release day I will call them and ask if they will unlock it. If they don't I will return it. I'll update my findings here for anyone else curious about this as well.

Comments

Tegeras

I travel quite a bit to South East Asia myself and am hoping they also do with the 5 like they did with 4s. The only snag I see is they changed SIM card sizes from Micro to Nano. I do not know of any other phone that uses a Nano so finding one might be a little harder let alone more expensive.

egilbbys21

Good point. Apparently the nano SIMs are also thinner than the micros so it'll be much more difficult if not impossible to cut a micro sim. I'm also headed to South East Asia (Philippines) but have heard their main carrier (Globe Telecom) is already stocking nano SIMs. I imagine others will follow suit.

egilbbys21

Just got off with Verizon and have been checking around the web. Apparently the new iPhone 5 is unlocked out of the box. :smileyhappy:

lildiabetic1988

The iPhone 5 is unlocked out of the box!! I even put my AT&T sim card (cut down) and it connected to AT&T! I'm just hoping it stays this way instead of verizon locking it in a month or to! P.S. You can cut down the SIM from a MICO SIM! Not the full sized ones because you would then have to cut the contacts (gold looking material) off and it wouldn't work!

egilbbys21

Great! Actually the day I got mine I cut down a full sized SIM card from an international carrier in Asia. I read somewhere that its ok to cut the gold area on the sides. I also had to shave down the thickness with some sandpaper. It worked! Roaming on ATT...

eor1222

Egilbbys21... I am curious how things worked out with getting a nano SIM and your iPhone 5. Our family will be visiting Manila this summer, and I would like to hear a first-hand account about your phone experiences. Do you purchase minutes for call/texting? What about data? Any feedback you can give from your trip regarding your iPhone usage would be helpful. Thanks!

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