Need help! Blocked iPhone5

[mas201]

so heres the deal.

im deployed overseas in afghanistan. i went to pakistan for a bit and bought an iphone 5 that is unlocked and was working while i was there. as soon as i came back to afg and put the other sim in it says its locked. turns out the phone is blocked by o2 in uk where the phone is originally from. i bought the phone i have the receipt. i tried talking to o2 but they said that they need the original account holder to call and unblock it. so basically my phone is screwed in the uk and here in afghanistan. i know that the euro countries are all part of an agreement that if an iphones imei is blocked in the uk it will be blocked where ever else in europe as well. i know the states just caught up to this as att, verizon, tmo, and sprint just started this as well but i heard thats just a nationwide thing not internationa. heres my question.

if its barred in the uk, will it work in the states? its unlocked but barred in europe. if anyone has tried this and had experience please let me know.

and ive been reading up on this and seen alot of people say oh your this and that for buying a stolen phone. i have it now im gonna hold on to it so thats that. just please, if you have an answer it'd be great.

thank you

 

[CEmajr]

It's most likely not blocked in the States. They currently do not share imei databases with foreign networks. Just hang on to it until you return from deployment.

 

[imeth]

Mas, thanks for your service. Make love 2 me you cutie

 

[dictoresno]

Mas, thanks for your service. Make love 2 me you cutie

username says it all

 

[Smartass]

i know that the euro countries are all part of an agreement that if an iphones imei is blocked in the uk it will be blocked where ever else in europe as well. i know the states just caught up to

didnt know that, you sure about that?

 

[dictoresno]

didnt know that, you sure about that?

from what i read over the past few months, the US is finally working on IMEI blacklisting here. other countries share this info internationally though the IMEI DB (database), however i dont think the US has yet to use this one central, international based one. the last link is a US based company that is putting this US IMEI blacklisting thing together. i dont know if they are related to or share info with the CEID or not. the info i came across seems wishy washy and unlear.

http://www.csoonline.com/article/70...hones-database-play-catch-up-to-rest-of-world
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Equipment_Identity_Register
http://www.gsma.com/technicalprojects/fraud-security/imei-database
http://www.ctia.org/media/press/body.cfm/prid/2220

 

[mas201]

so i talked to o2 again. found a rep who actually pretty nice. he said the phone isnt barred but it is locked. i need to unlock it but since im deployed here and return to the us in a week i cant go to the uk to get it unlocked. so does anyone have any experience with o2 and getting there phone unlocked thru them?

 

[dictoresno]

so i talked to o2 again. found a rep who actually pretty nice. he said the phone isnt barred but it is locked. i need to unlock it but since im deployed here and return to the us in a week i cant go to the uk to get it unlocked. so does anyone have any experience with o2 and getting there phone unlocked thru them?

Huge dofference between sim locked and blacklisfed. Thanks flr clarifying. Why didn't you ask o2 when you had them on the phone? Chances are, like most carriers, they won't unlock your phone for free unless you are a customs. Find someone you may know that's a customer of theirs to help you or you will need to pay a local shop or online unlocking service.

 

[ste1164]

so i talked to o2 again. found a rep who actually pretty nice. he said the phone isnt barred but it is locked. i need to unlock it but since im deployed here and return to the us in a week i cant go to the uk to get it unlocked. so does anyone have any experience with o2 and getting there phone unlocked thru them?

There is an online form you can fill it but you need to have used the iPhone on an O2 sim for a few days first.

 

[2298754]

Thanks for your service OP!

 

[BigCol]

This might seem like a daft question but would a bad esn Verizon iphone 5 work in the UK?? just curious because the guy who started this post wanted to know if i barred UK iphone would work in the USA, I thought I would turn the question around. Surely if the device is blacklisted, bad esn etc then it would not work via roaming but what about on a UK network?? Another sim etc?? If the phone device had a had esn/barred imei the surely Verizon wouldn't allow it to be unlocked to work on another network weather its in UK or any other part of the world!! Thanks in advance guys but curiosity is getting the better of me lol