Does Regional Lock exist on iPhone?

[Alemoho]

Hello Guys!
I bought an iPhone 6S in Oman, apparently SIM free, although I used it in several countries with different carriers easily, now I facing problems with Japanese a carrier. I've been doing some research and it appears that has to do with something call REGIONAL LOCK, cause the phone meet all the Band requirements from the Japanese carrie.

My iPhone model: A1688
Model shown in settings: MN0W2AH/A

Q1: Is there such thing as Regional Lock? if that so...
Q2: Can this be modified for this region?

Thanks!

 

[jpn]

there is no such thing as a regional lock.

but, what does exist, is, when a carrier locks a phone to its network, there are two different types of locks.

one meaning: only that carrier can be used throughout the entire world. meaning that when roaming outside its home country, you can't use that phone with any other SIM. that phone is entirely locked to that SIM only even when roaming.

other meaning: some carriers that lock a phone will only lock it to ensure that you can't use any other carrier SIM in the carriers own country, but, can use any SIM at all when roaming outside the home country.

most japanese phones (all three major japanese carriers) were locked until 2015 or so. i forgot the exact timing when the japanese government banned the practice. (still phones in japan are most frequently still locked but you can pay the carrier to unlock it).

the answer to ur question: japanese carriers have Always allowed phone bought through them to use any SIM outside of Japan.

also this: you can use the phone in japan you have bought in Oman. but you need to put in a SIM card from the original carrier to use it in japan, if it is still locked to that carrier. any SIM from that carrier even with a totally different mobile number than the original SIM mobile number can work with it.

also this: the reason why you bought the 6s was because it was so much cheaper.
now you know the reason.
the 7 and 8 were launched after the japanese government banned the above practices.
the 6s and before have a handicap. thus are cheaper.

dont be scammed. phone unlocking companies are UNABLE to unlock a phone in the above circumstance. however, they make you pay up front.

 

[Alemoho]

there is no such thing as a regional lock.

Thanks a lot niji... still I don't understand quite well why my phone is not working. A friend of mine has an iPhone 6 and he could use it with the same carrier (KDDI). When I reboot the iPhone at first it has a weak signal and after few seconds disappear... My friend bought the iPhone 6 in a different country, if this is a Handicap of the model, why he can use it?

 

[jpn]

KDDI (also known as au in Japan) for iPhone 6 uses CDMA (and a very old version CMDA at that)

i dont understand yr question.
where are you trying to use the phone, in Japan?

how do you know that your phone and his phone both were on KDDI/au originally.
there is NO way to tell that.

is your phone's model number a GSM model or CDMA model?

i think the weak signal soon loosing signal altogether indicates that your phone can not function on that network.