A combination of a vague desire to upgrade my antique mobile phone and a stall in our local market that is always advertising, "Mobile phones unlocked" led me to do a bit of googling. I'd always thought that it was something to do with the security PIN number but I now find that it it is for the networks to lock you into their services and prevent you switching companies. Now that I know (very vaguely) what it's all about, perhaps someone can enlighten me on a few points.
1) Do all companies do this or is it not all that common? Are there any companies to be avoided?
2) Is it all that important? In other words do many people actually bother changing their network.
3) If it is important, is it illegal to get your phone unlocked and, if it isn't illegal, what's the best way of doing it?
4) Anything else I should know about phone locking before I start writing to Santa Claus?
