Why won't Verizon unlock the iPhone 4s for domestic carriers?

[Mitch22]

This policy makes absolutely no sense. I want to get my daughter set up on her own line with a low cost carrier using my old iPhone 4s. As a loyal customer of Verizon in good standing for 15 years I'm done. Your tech support 'professionals' want to blame Apple, but the phone is not locked by Apple. I checked my IMEI number on their website. My phone is locked by Verizon for no good reason.  I will never use Verizon again, service was good for 15 years, but I'd rather deal with an honest carrier that will let me use equipment I have paid for in full. Adios.

[ynggrsshppr91]

Guess again. You bought a Verizon hardware phone. Go use it somewhere else when it's unlocked. Guess what? They won't take it because it won't work

[deloused]

The iPhone 4 & 4s versions sold to work on Verizon do not have the hardware built in to operate on domestic carriers other than Verizon. The Verizon employees you spoke to were correct, this is how these phones were designed by Apple. Verizon can unlock the phone, as it does have radios built in to operate on international roaming carriers however.

[Mitch22]

Think again, I bought an iPhone from Verizon, paid for it in full so now I own it. Verizon no longer owns the phone. The iPhone 5 and 6 come unlocked and can be switched for domestic use from another carrier even if I bought that iPhone from Verizon.

The iPhone 4s is a global phone that will work with any carrier. It has been locked by Verizon. Get your facts straight before posting the type of nonsense that confuses people. This is exactly what the Verizon customer service 'professionals' have been doing every time I called them. It is a different story every time, none of them made any sense. Found the facts out online, their agents just give the runaround because they don't want to unlock it.

[deloused]

Mitch you're correctly describing how the newer iPhones work, but you're completely incorrect about the 4&4s. You may want to do more research on the subject. "Global" means a phone works domestically and internationally, it does not mean it has the capability of accessing each and every frequency on all carriers networks.

[Mitch22]

I'm not buying that either. International carriers use GSM, and they will unlock for international use. Beyond that when I put a new SIM card in the phone it indicates that it is locked, not that it is not compatible. My new carrier indicates that it is compatible. Hopefully I can get it unlocked in a few months, at least that is what Verizon may be required to do under the new law. I'll have to do some more research. I think the deadline may be by the end of this month.

"A Verizon Wireless spokesperson told Ars that the company has complied with three standards: disclosure, the response time standard, and unlocking devices for deployed military personnel. That leaves three obligations that won't be fully complied with until next year: the actual unlocking of prepaid and postpaid phones and providing notice to customers when their devices are eligible for unlocking."

Unlocking your phone still illegal while carriers meet “voluntary” rules | Ars Technica

[Mitch22]

International does not mean domestic use, it means outside the US. There are other posts within this forum from Verizon reps that indicate they will unlock it for international and not domestic use.

[deloused]

Just keep in mind like most laws in this country it is not retroactive, so the thousands of device types that Verizon and other carriers sold prior to the unlocking law are not affected, including the 4/4s that is another reason why the new iPhones are different.

[Tidbits]

Those unlocking rules are not retro active so it doesn't affect older devices.

[BrianRoller]

Im with Mitch on this one, I was a Verizon customer with 5 phones on my plan and was totally disgusted with my plan, so I was not under contract with my IPhone 4s and looked around and T-Mobile offered a 2gig data plan with unlimited text and phone for $45.00 a month, all I had to buy was a T-Mobile sim card for $15.00, So I sign up and when I wait a week for my card I find out it only then that my "Verizon IPhone 4S" needs to be unlocked. I call Verizon and they tell me that it cannot be unlocked and only thing is that it can be traded in for credit. Guess where Im off to with my other 4 phones.