Why Unlocked Phones Don't Work In the US

schnell writes "Unlocked cellular devices have long been a part of the wireless landscape in Europe and elsewhere. But longtime industry analyst Andrew Seybold explains why that model doesn't work in the US due to technology and frequency differences, and why LTE adoption may not make things any better."

Re:Takes some patience and creativity

[Daengbo]

IMEIs are evil. The Thai carriers tried to use them to lock down phones a few years ago. Luckily,Thais are exceptionally good at getting around technological roadblocks,then sticking up shops on every corner to help the less tech-savvy get involved.. ;)

Re:Yeah right.

[Anonymous Coward]

Ya, mobile phones with support for multiple systems and frequency bands is sooooo 1997. Its the fault of the customer that you can only get phones with support for one carriers system! No greed here, go along...

Re:Yeah right.

[TheRaven64]

Completely true. This is why it is not possible to buy UMTS or WiFi module that plug into USB, PCI, miniPCI, or ExpressCard slots.