Sprint Unlocks Locked Phones

Several consumers have expressed their displeasure at not being able to use cell phones on any network they chose, Now one group has actually been successful in doing something about it. In order to appease a class-action lawsuit, Sprint has agreed to provide customers who cancel their contracts, or whose contracts have expired, the code necessary to unlock their phones for use on other carriers.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit claimed that Sprint's lock on their cell phones was a barrier to competition because it forced those wanting to switch to other carriers to buy new phones.

The result of this lawsuit has the potential to have a massive impact on the way the cellular device industry functions in the united states, and that goes for the iPhone as well. Currently Apple and AT&T have faced a number of similar suits, one being a $600 million class-action litigation claiming that the companies were restricting the iPhone from use with services that didn't profit either company.

Earlier Apple estimated that 250,000 iPhones were sold to people intending to unlock them and resell them for use on other carriers, many of which were sold overseas. Apple is having difficulty making deals with other countries in part due to locking practices coupled with revenue sharing, although this was disputed by Mandarine. "This [delayed announcement] did not have to do with locking or unlocking the phone," she says. "It was about finalizing the commercial agreement."

Any government regulations forcing Apple to unlock the iPhone could have a huge impact on the company's bottom line. It was reported earlier today that Apple is getting roughly s third of all revenue from AT&T.

[via MacNN]