My quest for an official unlock in Canada on Fido

[aristotle]

I started out my quest by creating a thread on Apple discussions asking why my iPhone 3GS, which I had paid in full for could not be unlocked officially on Saturday like Sonera does for their customers in Finland. By the end of Sunday, a host had removed my thread on Apple discussions because it was deemed as "feedback" rather than a question. I also posted a question on the feedback form for fido to which I received a generic response back for a low level employee handling the feedback form.

See this blog for info on how the official unlock works in other countries:
http://theappleblog.com/2009/08/20/apples-official-iphone-3g-unlock/

So anyway, I decided that instead of just complaining on internet forums about this, I would instead figure out who I should contact concerning concerns about the structure of the telecom industry in Canada. I found out that the CRTC is responsible for regulating the industry and that they provided a direct email where to send any questions or concerns. I decided to reply to both form emails individually CC'ing the appropriate CRTC email address on Sunday evening.

Fast forward to this morning. I was sitting at my desk and I noticed that I had a new voice mail sound coming from my iPhone 3G. I checked my missed calls log and there was no missed calls while I was away from my desk to get coffee. The voice mail had "Unknown" beside it. It was from the office of the president of my carrier Fido with a message referencing my email which had been forwarded to them asking me to call them back at a 1-866 number with a specific extension to the person who left the message.

At lunch I did manage to return the call but they were apparently out of the office at the time so I left a message with my cell number for them to call me back. I will see what unfolds tomorrow.

 

[Acronym]

you may pave the way for official unlocks in canada, though i think fido rogers telus and bell are the only companies that use sim cards.

still a factory unlock would be great for those going on vacations to foreign countries

 

[acfusion29]

It will get you no where... lol. But at least you're trying.

The cell phone industry in Canada is a joke...

 

[aristotle]

you may pave the way for official unlocks in canada, though i think fido rogers telus and bell are the only companies that use sim cards.

still a factory unlock would be great for those going on vacations to foreign countries

It would be great not only for vacations but also for students studying in Canada who go back to their home country on summer break, retired Canadians who go to Arizona or Mexico for a few months.

Americans should try the same thing with AT&T and the FCC. But we should all remember to remain calm, respectful and clear concerning our intentions and what we believe to be our rights as consumers. Getting angry or abusive will not get you anywhere. Citing examples from other countries and carriers can help your case as well.

Bell is now offering official unlocks for phones after 30 days of service if you are leaving the country and agree to pay a fee for the unlock and the ETF. I'm not sure if this includes the iPhone yet however.

 

[Acronym]

It would be great not only for vacations but also for students studying in Canada who go back to their home country on summer break, retired Canadians who go to Arizona or Mexico for a few months.

Americans should try the same thing with AT&T and the FCC. But we should all remember to remain calm, respectful and clear concerning our intentions and what we believe to be our rights as consumers. Getting angry or abusive will not get you anywhere. Citing examples from other countries and carriers can help your case as well.

Bell is now offering official unlocks for phones after 30 days of service if you are leaving the country and agree to pay a fee for the unlock and the ETF. I'm not sure if this includes the iPhone yet however.

i looked at bells iphone rates today they are not bad i am on rogers and was just checking out the other carriers.

bell had the best plans for your money.

 

[aristotle]

Americans should contact the FCC in writing

Here my my advice for Americans and others nationals wanting to do something similar regarding their carriers.

Don't call the carrier. I tried that and I got nowhere. You should calming and clearly explain your issue with carrier locking phones to their network to the FCC (or your country's regulatory body) in writing either electronically or via regular mail.

http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html
http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

When communicating with the FCC or any government body in your country of residence, your communication can have the greatest effect if you CC (carbon copy) your response to a generic response from your carrier to the regulatory body while remaining calm and respectful at all times.

If you are communicating with the regulatory body via mail, be sure to clearly state your demands without resorting to name calling and send a copy to the carrier so that they are made aware that you have contacted the government regarding this matter.

 

[trainguy77]

bell had the best plans for your money.

Really? I priced it out and its the same as with rogers for what I need.

Telus is a little cheaper for me though. But since I am stuck with Rogers its not worth switching back.

 

[Acronym]

here is a good comparison list for the four Canadian carriers ofering the iphone.

please note that you can custmize these t some extent as some of the websites stated (Fido did)

 

[aristotle]

Ok, I got a call back from a nice lady at the Fido executive office customer relations. I was told that they will consider re instituting an official unlock procedure if enough customers request it via their feedback mechanism.

 

[Acronym]

Ok, I got a call back from a nice lady at the Fido executive office customer relations. I was told that they will consider re instituting an official unlock procedure if enough customers request it via their feedback mechanism.

Then this is something that should be stickied and made known to other fido customers.

 

[Nermal]

Really? I priced it out and its the same as with rogers for what I need.

That's the thing. Your usage is different from the OP's usage, which is different from my usage. The cheapest option for me is quite expensive for some!

 

[trainguy77]

That's the thing. Your usage is different from the OP's usage, which is different from my usage. The cheapest option for me is quite expensive for some!

Exactly, my requirements are

my 5
atleast 150 minutes
unlimited texting
caller id
voicemail
unlimited evenings and weeknds (not a must have unless I only have 150 minutes)
500mb of data

The my 5 saves my bacon.

 

[aristotle]

Exactly, my requirements are

my 5
atleast 150 minutes
unlimited texting
caller id
voicemail
unlimited evenings and weeknds (not a must have unless I only have 150 minutes)
500mb of data

The my 5 saves my bacon.

Maybe you work different hours but Fido offers 7pm evenings with a 5 buck option for 5pm evenings while Telus/Bell offer 9pm evenings with an option for 7pm.

If you work 9-5pm Monday to Friday, the Fido plans make more sense since you can start talking at 5pm on Friday until Monday morning for free locally. I got in early so I have 6GB grandfathered in along with a few other options for 79.95 including fees but excluding taxes.

 

[trainguy77]

Maybe you work different hours but Fido offers 7pm evenings with a 5 buck option for 5pm evenings while Telus/Bell offer 9pm evenings with an option for 7pm.

If you work 9-5pm Monday to Friday, the Fido plans make more sense since you can start talking at 5pm on Friday until Monday morning for free locally. I got in early so I have 6GB grandfathered in along with a few other options for 79.95 including fees but excluding taxes.

i pay $73 right now. And that wouldn't cut it minutes wise. I have evenings at 6 right now for free as I am a student. I use alot of minutes during the day. I almost run out of the 150 every month. Plus I used 1500 minutes on the my 5 portion last month. Mind you some of those minutes would be evening minutes. But a couple hundred are day time use.

This puts fido out of the running as it doesn't offer my 5.

EDIT: it actually has a different break down listed. Last month I used 582 weekday minutes. So without my 5 I would need at least 600 daytime minutes.

 

[Animalk]

Ok, I got a call back from a nice lady at the Fido executive office customer relations. I was told that they will consider re instituting an official unlock procedure if enough customers request it via their feedback mechanism.

Ok this is huge news. Can you please post a link to their feedback mechanism? I will personally spread the word in any way I know how.

I see a "Contact Us" page but its very vague and non of the options seem to convey our intent.

 

[trainguy77]

I wonder how we would do the same with rogers. As they are essentially the same company.

 

[aristotle]

Ok this is huge news. Can you please post a link to their feedback mechanism? I will personally spread the word in any way I know how.

I see a "Contact Us" page but its very vague and non of the options seem to convey our intent.

What I did was use this form:
http://www.fido.ca/web/page/portal/Fido/GCT_ContactUs

Since there is no option for this particular issue, I picked "Obtain PIN Unblocking Key".

My message was as follows:

I would like to request an unlock of my iPhone 3GS 32GB which I purchased this past summer on the launch day. I paid the full price for it.

Other carriers in other countries do provide unlocks for phones either bought outright or upon completion of a contract. http://theappleblog.com/2009/08/20/apples-official-iphone-3g-unlock/#comment-64987

Is there a fee involved? I am willing to pay a fee and I would like to remain a customer of fido and not break my contract. However, if I cannot receive an official unlock I may have to break my contract and sell my phone as I do not wish to jailbreak. I am also considering organizing a petition have the CRTC intervene to force carriers to unlock phones for "free" upon request.

My iPhone's IMEI is: -- ------ ----- -

PS. This is not a matter of money involved for roaming fees but rather, it is about principles of fairness and freedom of choice.

I received the following reply standard reply:

Dear Mr. --------,

We would like to thank you for visiting our website . My name is ------.

We wish to inform you that Fido does not offer an unlocking service for its handsets.

Should you require further assistance for this or any other matter, you may contact Customer Service at 1 888 481-3436 (FIDO) weekdays from 8 AM to 9 PM and weekends from 9 AM to 5 PM. Our representatives will be pleased to assist you.

Thank you for choosing Fido.

Sincerely,

------ | Consultant on fido.ca

Not to be detered by this, I forwarded the reply including my original message to info@ccts-cprst.ca (CRTC) with the Subject "Locking of devices purchased at full price is anti-competitive".

I have requested an official unlock from my carrier as provided by Apple through carriers in European and Asian countries. I would like to have the same rights as my fellow human beings in European jurisdictions to have freedom of carrier choice for a phone which was purchased at full price. The price paid for the device in question was not the subsidized price but rather the equivalent of what is charged in Hong Kong for an unlocked device directly from the manufacturer (Apple Inc).

http://store.apple.com/hk/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone

Sonera http://www.sonera.fi/en/ does provide this service upon request to their customers by taking the IMEI number of the phone and forwarding that information on to Apple who in turn would supply an update directly to the consumer the next time they sync the device

I believe that this policy of the carriers is anti-competitive collusion and harms the rights and freedoms of the consumers to be able to use their device on the carrier of their choice.

Sincerely,
Ari ---------

The next day, I got that voice mail magically on my iPhone when I was away from my desk. The phone did not ring.

 

[Acronym]

That's because you can send voicemail to people from your own voicemal.

I agree with the above poster, the CRTC should enforce "official unlocks" from carriers for us canadians, and maybe the American too.....maybe

but definTely canadians for sure.

 

[fishstacks]

Go to your local mall and look for the carts selling cell phone accessories, these guys can usually unlock anything, including iPhones.

 

[trainguy77]

Go to your local mall and look for the carts selling cell phone accessories, these guys can usually unlock anything, including iPhones.

Only if they jailbreak it first. They can not do an official unlock.

 

[X5-452]

here is a good comparison list for the four Canadian carriers ofering the iphone.

[snip]

please note that you can custmize these t some extent as some of the websites stated (Fido did)

Good Lord. Fido is so cheap!!! Makes me want to ditch Rogers for them. Oh wait, it's the same company!! How can they have such price disparities across their brands?? Ridiculous.

 

[trainguy77]

Good Lord. Fido is so cheap!!! Makes me want to ditch Rogers for them. Oh wait, it's the same company!! How can they have such price disparities across their brands?? Ridiculous.

Rogers "iphone" plans are over priced. If you go with a regular plan and add the value packs your better off. I pay $73 a month all in. It would cost me $72 with fido plus tax. As I would want caller id. Except I wouldn't have enough minutes then as rogers offers my 5 for that price, fido does not.

Fido is only cheaper if you don't want caller id. Or if you go with a pre made rogers plan.

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

Rogers "iphone" plans are over priced. If you go with a regular plan and add the value packs your better off. I pay $73 a month all in. It would cost me $72 with fido plus tax. As I would want caller id. Except I wouldn't have enough minutes then as rogers offers my 5 for that price, fido does not.

Fido is only cheaper if you don't want caller id. Or if you go with a pre made rogers plan.

This part is really interesting to me. I personally have the Fido $25 plan- 100 minutes and unlimited texting- for my iPhone, and it works for me. My brother, however, averages just over $100 each month, and has some strange combo of my 5, unlimited texting (as an add on I believe), and the 6GB data plan. He has NO caller ID and NO voicemail, of any kind. This is ludicrous.

Personally, I would switch over to Telus immediately (and would probably upgrade to the 3GS) if their $50 plan offered unlimited texting. That would be the ultimate plan, for my needs.

It also astonishes me that the Rogers iPhone plans include so little texting. How is this possible???

 

[Acronym]

This part is really interesting to me. I personally have the Fido $25 plan- 100 minutes and unlimited texting- for my iPhone, and it works for me. My brother, however, averages just over $100 each month, and has some strange combo of my 5, unlimited texting (as an add on I believe), and the 6GB data plan. He has NO caller ID and NO voicemail, of any kind. This is ludicrous.

Personally, I would switch over to Telus immediately (and would probably upgrade to the 3GS) if their $50 plan offered unlimited texting. That would be the ultimate plan, for my needs.

It also astonishes me that the Rogers iPhone plans include so little texting. How is this possible???

because rogers techinicaly owns Fido they can have price differentials. its a marketing tactic they advertise low rate for one company and other promos for the other, the money goes to the same place just a matter of which promotional offer your looking for.

 

[yalag]

I wanted an unlocked iphone too, willing to pay. but found no way to do it. please post back if you found a way.