Quote:
Originally Posted by brundles
<snip> especially in this country where the operators subsidise the handset costs. O2 won't be too happy to subsidise an iPhone that then generates T-Mobile revenue because somebody unlocked it.
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Don't know how it is going to work in the UK because you sign up on iTunes here but this is largely irrelevant in the normal sense of phones and contracts. Just because you have unlocked the phone and are using it on another network does not get you out of the original contract. To exit that contract you would need to pay the appropriate exit fees, usually 18months minimum monthly payments. If that happens they make the subsidy back. Then O2 make money doing nothing and TMobile make money for coverage.
I thought the EU required that networks unlocked handsets at the end of contracts for a small fee. After all you are not tied to a contract and you bought the phone so they no longer have any leverage over how you should use it. Won't Apple / O2 be required to unlock these babys in 18 months anyway?