Network unlock without restoring

[SmellyTofu]

Is it possible to network/carrier unlock an iphone without having to restore it? It ties in with my previous question about not upgrading firmware. My phone is perfect the way it is on 4.3.3 and I really like to have a restore-free way to unlock it since last time I moved up to 4.3.3 + JB, I almost bricked my phone.

My network has let me unlock it so it's all above board but I'd just like to change carriers and bide my time for iPhone 5 details to come out.

 

[Andy Ftw]

When Orange (UK) unlocked my iPhone it took around a week, but after it was done all I needed to do was sync and it was factory unlocked Though the email they sent said if I was having trouble I would need to restore to activate the unlock, but I had no such troubles

 

[SmellyTofu]

For reference, I did the official carrier unlock by inserting a different carrier's sim (was a 2G sim card too) and connected it to iTunes. Then after some thinking to the Apple servers, the iPhone showing the connect to iTunes image, it then rebooted and the magical "Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked" screen comes up. Tested and works beautifully even on a 2G sim card.