On 2009-06-27, XS11E <xs11eNO@SPAMyahoo.com> wrote:
> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>
>> XS11E wrote:
>>> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> XS11E wrote:
>>>>> CDMA cellphones are not locked, they use a PRL file to identify
>>>>> the network rather than a SIM card and may or may not be able
>>>>> to be moved to another carrier, some carriers will allow it,
>>>>> some won't.
>>>>>
>>>>> VZW is a CDMA carrier so the term unlocked is pretty
>>>>> meaningless.
>>>> Not necessarily. There have been some phones, at least Motorola
>>>> phones, that you could buy directly from Motorola and use on any
>>>> CDMA network. I bought at least one of these in the past.
>>>
>>> Sure but that has nothing to do with a phone being locked or
>>> unlocked.
>>
>> Perhaps, but being able to activate it on any CDMA network is
>> close enough for me.
>
> Irrelevant, the OP asked for a definition of the term "Unlocked", the
> term does not apply to a CDMA phone.

I don't quite get the distinction you are drawing.

You buy GSM service from Rogers, put the SIM in your T-Mobile phone
and turn the phone on. If the phone won't let you use Roger's service
until you enter a password (which can only be obtained from T-Mobile)
we say the phone is "locked".

You buy CDMA service from Telus, give them your Sprint phone to be
reprogrammed onto their service and discover that the configuration
menu for the service programming needed to rehome the phone is
protected by a password (which can only be obtained from Sprint, who
won't tell). Why would we not say the phone is "locked"?

Dennis Ferguson