How to unlock a mobile phone and check network compatibility?
When you buy a phone from T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T; they offer you a subsidized phone deal in exchange for a 2-year (or 30-months) contract. They also lock your phone, so that you cannot take the phone to another carrier. To use the phone you bought from Verizon on the AT&T network (or vice versa), you'll have to unlock your phone. The US carriers used to lock your phone for years, but with the "Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act", you have to right to unlock your phone if you meet their "Unlocking Policy".