Chile Forbids Carriers From Selling Network-Locked Phones

Posted by timothy on Tuesday January 3, 2012 @04:34AM from the as-regulations-go-not-a-bad-idea dept.

An anonymous reader writes "As from today, network operators in Chile are no longer allowed to sell carrier-locked phones, and must unlock free of charge all devices already sold to costumers through a simple form on their respective websites. The new regulation came into effect in preparations for the rollout of Mobile Number Portability, set to begin on January 16th. This is one among other restrictions that forbid carriers to lock in the customers through 'abusive clauses' in their contracts, one of which was through selling locked devices. Now if a customer wishes to change carriers he/she needs only to have the bills up to date and the process of porting the number should only take 24 hours."

1 of 291 comments (clear)

Costumers rejoice! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-03 04:46 · Score: 0, Troll

I am sure all the costumers are happy about this change as they will finally be able to manage all of their costumes on a device of their choice. I wonder how this change will affect the customers at large though!