iPhone 3G - can it work for all Apple supported service providers

[mesamac]

I have iPhone 3G and I have AT&T service in USA.

If I visit Asia/Europe, if i want to get local Apple supported provider plan for few months, can I use their SIM card without unlocking the phone?

It will be very ugly design of Apple if they don't allow to use their officially supported carriers in different countries.

Can anyone confirm if I can use this phone out of US?

Thanks.

 

[Torq]

I have iPhone 3G and I have AT&T service in USA.

If I visit Asia/Europe, if i want to get local Apple supported provider plan for few months, can I use their SIM card without unlocking the phone?

It will be very ugly design of Apple if they don't allow to use their officially supported carriers in different countries.

Can anyone confirm if I can use this phone out of US?

Thanks.

In short, "No".

The iPhone is SIM-locked to AT&T, and if you want to use any other provider's SIM you will need to unlock your phone.

Usage rates are obscene abroad on AT&T, even if you opt into the $6/month World Traveller Plan you're still looking at $0.99/minute for the UK and say $3.99/minute for Keyna for example, so I understand the desire to use a local carrier.

But it does require you unlock, or use a locally provisioned phone during your stay (much easier to do in Europe) if you do not want to use your existing service.