Pure Mobile announces plans to unlock iPhone

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Pure Mobile announces plans to unlock iPhone> Canadian online shop Pure Mobile plans to offer an unlocked iPhone, according to PodTech VP Robert Scoble. The store says it will unlock both the 4GB and 8GB iPhone to allow their use on GSM carriers beyond its official AT&T home, including the carrier's rival T-Mobile as well as Canadian providers such as Fido and Rogers. No mention has been made of pricing or availability, but interest for the unlocked Apple device is already said to be very high? more so than any phone sold in the past, says Pure Mobile. The company expects supplies to be very tight during the initial launch.

The company does not explain how it will overcome the restrictions on the phone's SIM card, which are meant to limit the phone's use to AT&T and maintain the multi-year exclusive agreement signed between Apple and AT&T.. Previous comments by Apple have suggested that extra measures will be in place to prevent a simple unlock process.

Unlocked phones are considered essential for European providers, which are often expected to let subscribers switch between services without also abandoning their current handsets. Industry analysts have also suggested that carrier-free versions of the iPhone will flourish in Canada for as long as Apple declines to sell its phone in the country. Anyone remember how satellite TV became a huge underground industry in Canada when DirecTV banned the sales of their units to Canadians? The same could happen with the iPhone.