iPhone 6 unable to activate with any SIM

I bought a second hand iPhone 6. I live in the UK and through some research it appears that the phone is from the USA.

In order to activate the phone it instructs me to insert a sim however when I do I get this error:

"The SIM card that you currently have installed in this iPhone is from a carrier that is not supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server. This is not a hardware issue with the iPhone. Please insert another SIM card from a supported carrier or request that this iPhone be unlocked by your carrier. Please contact Apple for more information"

I believe the phone is with Verizon and it is my understanding that Verizon do not lock their phones. What can I do?

Accepted answers

Verizon_Support

We want you to having a working phone that you can use at anytime. Have you been able to reach out to your carrier to see what they can do? All of our 4g phones are unlocked. Check this link out: http://spr.ly/6588BGjue

Thank you,
KevinR_VZW
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All comments

Weth

A Reported lost or stolen phone that is blacklisted?

Verizon_Support

Hello curiousfox. Help is here. Let's work on this for you as I realize how important it is to have a working and able phone. First you would want to verify where this phone originated. There are several cellular providers that offer the iPhone. 4G devices are not locked. You can reach out to Apple directly at 800-692-7753 to inquire further regarding where the iPhone was originated, or to your carrier where you are trying to use service with abroad. Thanks.

KristieQ_VZW
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curiousfox

From checking the phone over with a website I can confirm that the phone is not blacklisted or stolen.

curiousfox

Hello Verizon, just to be clear I have no idea if the phone is locked to a GSM carrier. It's my understanding that as an american iPhone that is with Verizon it would never be locked to a GSM carrier. I'm guessing I would need to activate the phone with Verizon on the CDMA side of things but I would have no idea how to do that as I am from the UK, I live here, I'm not here on holiday.

Just for the sake of ruling out the possibilities I will try to activate the phone using every major carrier SIM just to see if that helps. I don't know if you have seen that error code before at all but this appears on the iPhone when I attempt to activate it or through iTunes when I try to activate it there.

Tidbits

Are you sure it's from Verizon and not Sprint, AT&T, or T-Mobile. They are all the same model number. Only the Verizon one is unlocked out of the box.

Here is T-Mobile IMEI checker.

http://www.t-mobile.com/verifyIMEI.aspx

Here's a multipurpose one. Also a decent place to buy used phone.

https://swappa.com/esn

curiousfox

Hi Tidbits I checked on the T-Mobile site and it did not recognise the IMEI.

These are the results from the second website http://swappa.com/esn/shared/X8P1C9S2

When I checked the imei of the phone originally I used www.imeidata.net which stated it was "North American/Verizon". I know that these kind of websites aren't always accurate but that's all I had to go on. Several sites have confirmed that it is an american model that globally supports GSM/CDMA

Verizon_Support

curiousfox,

Let's give you some information to help you along your way. The "activation policy" error does not mean that the phone is locked or not able to be used on another carrier. Activation policies are a set of instructions in the phone's firmware that instruct the phone on how to program a SIM card based on the initial carrier the device is designed to be used with. The phone will not be able to program any SIMs other than the initial carrier's. You need to insert a SIM card into the phone that is already working and has been programmed successfuly by a different device on that carriers network. New SIM cards will not work. If you are inserting SIM cards that have already been programmed to that carriers network by one of their phones and you are still getting an error, that means the card is not compatible with the phone and you should seek assistance at the store of the carrier you are trying to use the phone with. Hope this helps.

EricW_VZW

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If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

curiousfox

Hey! Thanks for the advice! So you are saying that putting in any pay as you go sim (even if its the correct carrier) wont help because not only does it need to be the correct carrier but it also needs to be a sim that's programmed successfully. What exactly do you mean when you say "programmed successfully by a different device on that carriers network"?