What does "unlocked" mean?
When you buy a cell phone from a service provider, the phone is typically "locked" so that it can only be used with that service provider. For example, a phone purchased from Carolina CellCom would typically only operate with a SIM card from Carolina CellCom.
An unlocked cell phone is simply a cell phone that has no lock or restriction on the SIM card it can accept. In other words, an unlocked cell phone will accept any SIM card regardless of which provider it came from .
Unlocked cell phone's are usually sold by independent retailers and are usually sold without a contract or SIM card. The buyer is then able to shop around for an approriate plan from any cell phone service provider, subscribe to their service and place the given SIM card in the new cell phone and start using the new service.
Another advantage of having an unlocked cell phone is when a client travels, instead of paying excessive roaming charges to their wireless carrier, they can simply buy a prepaid SIM card upon arrival at the destination, install it in the unlocked cell phone and benefit from having a cell phone while traveling at a fraction of the typical roaming charges.
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