All mobiles phones sold in Chile to be unlocked

Mobile phone fans in Chile received some good news this week when the Department of Telecommunications of Chile, Subtel announced that all mobile phones in the country had to be sold unlocked. The rule went into effect right away and will mean that any phone can be taken to any carrier the user wants.

Chile is also moving to make numbers portable as well. The new rule in Chile is even retroactive in a way. It states that any locked mobile phone purchases prior to the January 16 date is to be unlocked by the carrier free of charge.

The unlocking seems easy to do. The mobile providers will have to put up a webpage under the ruling that allows the user to enter the IEMI, device model, and a few other tidbits. The phones will then be unlocked from the carrier. I would like to see more countries take this approach. When you buy a phone, it should be able to work on any compatible carrier.

[via Android Community]