Telecom New Zealand now locking handsets

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Telecom New Zealand now locking handsets

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#922520 27-Oct-2013 15:55

hamish225: can't you just google the unlock code?

Thats how i unlocked my samsung W531

Some you can and some you cannot ... if you use the wrong unlock codes to many times, the phone will lock you out of being able to enter the unlock codes.

Yabanize

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#922525 27-Oct-2013 16:15

hamish225: can't you just google the unlock code?

Thats how i unlocked my samsung W531

Where was your W531 from?

jeffnz

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#922527 27-Oct-2013 16:26

ajw:
jeffnz: why are we going backwards??

there is no evidence they will lock more expensive phones and common sense would say that unless all telco's collude then it won't happen.

Yet.

well until there is evidence they are don't worry

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old3eyes

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#922536 27-Oct-2013 16:42

Yabanize:
hamish225: can't you just google the unlock code?

Thats how i unlocked my samsung W531

Where was your W531 from?

Telecom..

Regards,

Old3eyes

richms

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#922538 27-Oct-2013 16:59

I have no problem with this happening, so long as it is advertised clearly which the telecom one is for sure.

They are all crap phones tho, and really should be given away and up the unlock price to $100 or something IMO, and 9 months is silly, should have a minimum spend that you have to have done before they will unlock for free.

Richard rich.ms

michaelmurfy

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#922539 27-Oct-2013 17:03

When I used to work in a retail store the amount of customers that would come in with a cheap Telecom phone and complain that internet and MMS was not working was just outstanding, these people were using another providers sim. This is also another way to stop people from buying another networks phone (low end) due to a sale and not understanding it's not guaranteed to work on another network.

This way, the low end phones simply won't work on another network - it's a win-win for network operators, it's not about the customer moving away (in my mind anyway), it's more preventing those customers from buying a phone from Network A, giving it to somebody for Christmas only to have them use it on Network B thinking "Gah! Not Telecom again!!" when data doesn't work. These phones do come with a sim for Christmas as well as a free value pack and instructions on how to bring your number across so really, this Christmas the retail stores won't have to worry about the whole "My phone doesn't work on 2degrees!" argument.

In a world of self service, I support this. They're not locking more expensive phones but personally I'd happily have providers lock their phones. Like John said, if I could get a S4 for $700 but it was locked to Telecom (my carrier anyway) I'd be happy.

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ajw

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#922547 27-Oct-2013 17:11

Slightly OT but now that Telecom is getting aggressive at the lower end of the prepay market what is the business case for keeping the Skinny subsidiary in the marketplace.

michaelmurfy

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#922548 27-Oct-2013 17:15

ajw: Slightly OT but now that Telecom is getting aggressive at the lower end of the prepay market what is the business case for keeping the Skinny subsidiary in the marketplace.

Telecom offers store assistance, Skinny is completely self service with limited phone assistance hence why they have different plans, pricing etc. Telecom are not getting rid of Skinny anytime soon.

ajw

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#922552 27-Oct-2013 17:22

michaelmurfy:
ajw: Slightly OT but now that Telecom is getting aggressive at the lower end of the prepay market what is the business case for keeping the Skinny subsidiary in the marketplace.

Telecom offers store assistance, Skinny is completely self service with limited phone assistance hence why they have different plans, pricing etc. Telecom are not getting rid of Skinny anytime soon.

But Skinny seems to be changing their marketing demographic.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11134266

Yabanize

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#922623 27-Oct-2013 19:32

When Skinny came out, 2degrees complained about them locking their phones

The stupid thing is, Nearly all the phones 2degrees sell apart from the high end ones wont even work on telecom or skinny because they arent compatible.

2degrees will probably kick up a fuss about Telecom too, But again most 2degrees phones wont work with Telecom anyway!

Also because of their attitude towards locking I dont see 2degrees locking handsets anytime soon

freitasm

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#922625 27-Oct-2013 19:35

Yabanize: 2degrees will probably kick up a fuss about Telecom too, But again most 2degrees phones wont work with Telecom anyway!

So pretty much what theyre saying is people should be able to use telecom phones on 2degrees but not the other way round.

I don't see it that way. The fact 2degrees handsets won't work on Telecom is not of their doing - it's how the bands work. So they aren't saying "people should be able to use telecom phones on 2degrees but not the other way round" as you imply.

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Yabanize

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#922628 27-Oct-2013 19:38

freitasm:
Yabanize: 2degrees will probably kick up a fuss about Telecom too, But again most 2degrees phones wont work with Telecom anyway!

So pretty much what theyre saying is people should be able to use telecom phones on 2degrees but not the other way round.

I don't see it that way. The fact 2degrees handsets won't work on Telecom is not of their doing - it's how the bands work. So they aren't saying "people should be able to use telecom phones on 2degrees but not the other way round" as you imply.

Yeah I probably shouldnt've said that. You're right it isnt their doing, but still. I've Edited that bit out

joff_nz

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#922912 28-Oct-2013 10:29

Yabanize: When Skinny came out, 2degrees complained about them locking their phones

The stupid thing is, Nearly all the phones 2degrees sell apart from the high end ones wont even work on telecom or skinny because they arent compatible.

2degrees will probably kick up a fuss about Telecom too, But again most 2degrees phones wont work with Telecom anyway!

Also because of their attitude towards locking I dont see 2degrees locking handsets anytime soon

Didn't 2d also campaign against on/off net pricing, term contracts and complex plan pricing?

NonprayingMantis

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#923073 28-Oct-2013 15:17

joff_nz:
Yabanize: When Skinny came out, 2degrees complained about them locking their phones

The stupid thing is, Nearly all the phones 2degrees sell apart from the high end ones wont even work on telecom or skinny because they arent compatible.

2degrees will probably kick up a fuss about Telecom too, But again most 2degrees phones wont work with Telecom anyway!

Also because of their attitude towards locking I dont see 2degrees locking handsets anytime soon

Didn't 2d also campaign against on/off net pricing, term contracts and complex plan pricing?

Yes they did, and have brought every single one of those things.

ajobbins

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#923135 28-Oct-2013 18:11

Don't see an issue. Especially at it's cheap (obviously subsidised), clearly labelled as locked and unlockable for a pretty low fee.

This differ from days of old where Vodafone used to lock handsets sold on long term contracts and they either couldn't be unlocked for a period of time, or doing so was prohibitively expensive (despite some pretty pathetic subsidies on the handsets).

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