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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > iPhone, iPad & iPod > iPhone contract cancellation?

iPhone contract cancellation?
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matty-uk
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Jun 25, 2007, 02:03 PM
 
I'm from the UK and god knows when Apple will decide on a European carrier and which one it'll be but I wondered. I'll be in the US end of August-early September and have a relative who lives in the US.

Would it be possible to get them to get an iPhone on contract then cancel the contract? Does the cancellation work the same way as here in the UK? Over here I'd pay say £300 for the phone, £30 a month and if I wanted to cancel I'd have to pay £640 just to cancel my contract.

Over there would I pay the $500 for the phone and $175 to cancel the contract? In which case that is a helluva lot cheaper than doing it here and I'd have it months earlier
     
icruise
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Jun 25, 2007, 02:46 PM
 
There's no guarantee that you could actually use it outside the US (without an AT&T contract, that is). In fact, since I don't think you could even sign up without a US address and so forth.
     
matty-uk  (op)
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Jun 25, 2007, 02:54 PM
 
I wouldn't be the one signing up I'd possibly ask my relative if they'd sign up for an extra contract and then I'd pay them for the phone and cancellation fee. I was just wondering if that was possible and if you had to pay for the whole 2 year contract and the $175.
     
icruise
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Jun 25, 2007, 03:16 PM
 
No, I think the point of the cancellation fee is to make up for the lost revenue over the course of the contract, so you don't have to pay the fees for the whole 2 years. You would have to pay for the first month, plus activation fees and whatnot, though. And as I say, we don't know if the iPhone will even work with another carrier. At the very least, some features like Visual Voicemail will be compromised.
     
stevesnj
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Jun 25, 2007, 03:26 PM
 
The iPhone uses the same frequencies as my Razr and my Razr works in the UK and Europe. Im planning to go to the UK July 5 and im bringing both phones just in case.
MacBook Pro 15" i7 ~ Snow Leopard ~ iPhone 4 - 16Gb
     
matty-uk  (op)
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Jun 25, 2007, 03:27 PM
 
excellent, you mind letting me know how you get on stevesnj?

To be honest I'm not too fused about visual voice mail at the minute
     
icruise
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Jun 25, 2007, 03:30 PM
 
Again, though, we're not talking about the frequencies. We already know that it's a quad-band phone, but if is locked to AT&T you cannot use it with a UK provider even though the phone is technically compatible, and even though someone with an AT&T contract from the US could go on vacation and use the phone in the UK.
     
matty-uk  (op)
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Jun 25, 2007, 03:32 PM
 
oh i see you mean the phone being locked by SIM card? Yeah network locking is pap
     
Visnaut
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Jun 25, 2007, 03:42 PM
 
If indeed a contract is required, and you're willing to pay to cancel it, then that seems entirely plausible.

You will likely need to unlock it though, and no one knows what that will entail yet.

What I'm still holding out hope for is that it will be possible to unlock an iPhone before it's bound to an AT&T contract, and hence, avoiding cancellation fees in the first place.

Since one will be able to buy it online, and presumably you activate the device via iTunes once you've recieved it, it's possible you can unlock it before it's even activated, thereby enabling use with any existing GSM SIM card.

Of course stuff like Visual Voicemail won't work, but the phone will already have to take that into account already when it's roaming in other countries.

That's all pure conjecture, though. I doubt we'll know before June 29th, or even for a few days after.
( Last edited by Visnaut; Jun 25, 2007 at 03:52 PM. )
     
matty-uk  (op)
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Jun 25, 2007, 03:57 PM
 
thanks for the reply Visnaut. I figured I had 2 months before I'll be there anyway to see how things go before deciding. Hey they might have even decided on a carrier by then
     
mduell
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Jun 25, 2007, 04:31 PM
 
The "contract required" business is a cute way to hide the 'real' price of the iPhone. Normally it would be a $700-800 phone with a $200 rebate for signing a contract, but they wanted to advertise it as a $500 phone (so Jobs could do his whole $300 phone + $200 media player 'pondering' on stage).
     
stevesnj
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Jun 25, 2007, 05:07 PM
 
Originally Posted by icruise View Post
Again, though, we're not talking about the frequencies. We already know that it's a quad-band phone, but if is locked to AT&T you cannot use it with a UK provider even though the phone is technically compatible, and even though someone with an AT&T contract from the US could go on vacation and use the phone in the UK.
It was roaming, my Cingular, phone at the time, just needed to connect to the tower, the company has nothing to do with it it. letting me be able to see the towers and connect to them is the issue and those tower owners allowing Cingular roam and use them. AT@T said nothing has changed and I will be fine when I get overseas., but Im not there yet so AT&T saying it and it actually working is another.
MacBook Pro 15" i7 ~ Snow Leopard ~ iPhone 4 - 16Gb
     
icruise
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Jun 25, 2007, 05:12 PM
 
You will be fine overseas (assuming you enable international roaming) because you have an AT&T account, but you can't just buy the iPhone and use it with another carrier. This isn't that complicated, is it?
     
stevesnj
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Jun 25, 2007, 05:15 PM
 
Originally Posted by icruise View Post
You will be fine overseas (assuming you enable international roaming) because you have an AT&T account, but you can't just buy the iPhone and use it with another carrier. This isn't that complicated, is it?
Yes I do have international roaming. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to complete a call
MacBook Pro 15" i7 ~ Snow Leopard ~ iPhone 4 - 16Gb
     
Visnaut
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Jun 26, 2007, 10:18 AM
 
So it's confirmed with Apple's iPhone Activation video: The phone is activated via iTunes.

Here's another interesting tidbit from Apple's Rate Plans page:
Minimum new 2-year wireless service plan and activation fee required to activate iPhone features, including iPod.
So the iPhone basically comes locked when you buy it. This also prevents people from buying it just for the iPod functionality.

I'm confident that within a few weeks, someone will reverse engineer the activation process and allow usage with any SIM card.
     
Dr Reducto
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Jun 26, 2007, 12:13 PM
 
Originally Posted by Visnaut View Post
So it's confirmed with Apple's iPhone Activation video: The phone is activated via iTunes.

Here's another interesting tidbit from Apple's Rate Plans page:


So the iPhone basically comes locked when you buy it. This also prevents people from buying it just for the iPod functionality.

I'm confident that within a few weeks, someone will reverse engineer the activation process and allow usage with any SIM card.
Once that hack becomes public, expect Apple to do something to protect AT&T's investment.
     
Visnaut
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Jun 26, 2007, 01:04 PM
 
Originally Posted by Dr Reducto View Post
Once that hack becomes public, expect Apple to do something to protect AT&T's investment.
And I wouldn't imagine any other scenario. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't take advantage of such a hack.

Personally, it would be cool to be able to use one here in Canada before being officially launched; if the iTunes Store is any indication, we'll be waiting a while for that.

A 6G OSX-based touch-screen iPod with Wi-Fi would change my mind though.
     
mdc
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Jun 26, 2007, 01:33 PM
 
I'm wondering what the SIM card process is like on this phone? Maybe I've missed it, but I have not seen how someone inserts their SIM card into this phone.
     
   
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