Hi, I got my iPhone 4S just couple weeks ago. I decided to get iPhone 4S from the Verizon because they unlock the phone if I will use the Verizon Wireless more than two month. I thought it means I will be able to use my iphone back in my country for the summer. (Korea) Meanwhile, I just realized Verizon allows only a single unlock every 10 month. Then someone told me the unlocked phone will be locked again if I get it back to US from Korea. (So here now, I am talking about the time I will take my iphone back to US as the semester begins on September. )
So my questions are:
1. Is the "unlock" permanent or not?
2. Assuming the Unlock is permanent, will I be able to use the phone in Korea with GSM style network? (As far as I know, Verizon's network is CDMA)
3. I am going back to Korea for the summer and will be back in states by September. Then, I will be graduating the school by December. Will I be able use my phone both in Korea (not Verizon) and US this time? (I mean I will temporalliy stop the service for the summer, and actiavte it with Korean carrier for the summer, then activating it with Verizon on September.)
4. I am going back to my Korea as of December 2012 since I am graduating the school by then. Even if I break the contract with Verizon and bring the device in Korea, will I be able to use it with Korean carrier(GSM) ?
I really need some knowledge on this people.
I need to know specific and correct information. (Because If won't be able to use the phone in Korea, I definitely going to sell this phone before I graduate.)
As far as your question about being able to activate the phone on a GSM network in Korea...I'm pretty sure the answer to that is no. On the Apple site they sell an unlocked iPhone 4s but it can only be activated on GSM networks so that would exclude the VZW CDMA iPhone 4s. When VZW unlocks it you will be able to use a local pre-paid sim card in Korea if you wanted to (this is my understanding) instead of paying VZW's higher international roaming fees, but I think that's the extent of your abilities. You can contact VZW to get them to clearly explain this to you so you know you have the most correct information. If you're wanting to be able to take your unlocked iPhone 4s and use it on any other GSM network once you leave the US then you might want to look in to getting the unlocked version from Apple...it will cost you a lot more than you might have paid for the one you currently have (if you didn't pay full retail for it) but it would better fit your needs. Of course, if you can't return the one you have now because it's past the return/exchange period then that would mean you paying a lot for another device and carrier and an ETF fee....but if you plan to sell your current one when you leave for good in December then you might be able to offset the cost of the unlocked one with that sell. Hope all of that made sense lol. I would just contact VZW directly to get some clear answers to your questions about what their unlocking does as far as your current device goes...and then you might want to contact Apple to ask for clear info on the unlocked GSM iPhone 4s that they sell and how it works to see if that is the best option for you.
Start a new topic or ask questions in the open forum.
