Full retail question...

[davec53]

I am on a regional carrier, Appalachian Wireless (CDMA), and they have expressed to me they have ZERO interest in windows phones. so my option is to either wait for them to change their minds, continue on with Android, or move over to Verizon, which I would not necessarily be against.

My question though is...if I could buy the 822 at full retail, I imagine it is still "locked" to Verizon? I would love to be able to program it to work on my carrier, but they seem reluctant to even try, probably to discourage people from doing it. They claim that the way Verizon locks their phones, it is difficult/impossible to get them working on their network.

Anyone had any luck moving a VZW phone to a regional CDMA carrier and think that maybe it could be possible with the 822? I just don't know enough about it.

 

[davec53]

i looked arounda little bit online, and the best i can tell, if verizon locks the phone, it will not be usable on another carrier, CDMA or not. booooooooooooo....

 

[Laura Knotek]

It's not really a matter of VZW locking the phone. CDMA carriers work differently than GSM carriers. The term "unlock" refers to being able to use any GSM carrier's SIM. The 822 is a world phone, so it would be possible to unlock it and use it with a GSM carrier, provided VZW gives an unlock code (or a 3rd party unlocking company is able to generate a code).

It's more an issue of your carrier, not VZW.

CDMA devices technically do not need any "unlocking" to use on other CDMA networks. However, each CDMA carrier has a database of ESNs/MEIDs. They will usually only activate devices with their own branding, per the databases. So Sprint phones cannot be used on VZW (and vice versa). It's your regional carrier not allowing VZW phones, not the other way around.

I hope that helps.

 

[davec53]

that absolutely helps! thank you so much. it stinks for me...but...at least i know what i'm dealing with.

 

[Laura Knotek]

that absolutely helps! thank you so much. it stinks for me...but...at least i know what i'm dealing with.

You're welcome.

I'm sorry that your carrier doesn't have better phone selection.