[steven_good2]

Just been on the Three website and it looks like there doing free unlocking as it don't mention a price to have it unlocked

[steven_good2]

http://support.three.co.uk/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBISAPI.DLL?Command=New,Kb=Mobile,Ts=Mobile,T=Article,varset_cat=billing,varset_subcat=3772,Case=obj(4363)

[Zee_Bukhari]

I think its something around the £15 mark to unlock

[steven_good2]

Also someone on twitter asked if unlocking is free instead of the £15.12 and three replied with "this is correct yes!"

[GrannyGruntbuck]

Hmmm, I have a 3 uk phone and want it unlocked but refuse to pay around £15.

I have no intention of leaving 3, I just want the ability to use sim cards from the country I am in when I travel.
When back in the Uk, I am happy to use 3.
So why should I pay!

[steven_good2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrannyGruntbuck

Hmmm, I have a 3 uk phone and want it unlocked but refuse to pay around £15.

I have no intention of leaving 3, I just want the ability to use sim cards from the country I am in when I travel.
When back in the Uk, I am happy to use 3.
So why should I pay!

Same as me I like to use a local SIM when I go on holiday

[GrannyGruntbuck]

Just been on their website and it does look like it is now free to unlock.

I have been through the process via my phone and there was no mention of any charge at any point during the process.

-http://support.three.co.uk/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBISAPI.DLL?Command=New,Kb=Mobile,Ts=Mobile,T=Article,varset_cat=billing,varset_subcat=3772,Case=obj(4363)

[GrannyGruntbuck]

Just in case they do charge me, I have saved a copy of the page and printed it.

[steven_good2]

If you look on twitter @ThreeUK are telling people that it's free when people have asked

[thebennyboy]

I called 333 and followed the steps but got stuck on step 4.
[LIST=1][*]Type *#06# on your phone’s call screen to get your IMEI number. Write this down, as you’ll need it on the call.[*]Call 333 from your Three phone. - Yes[*]Select option two. - Yes[*]Select option three. - No[*]Select option one. - No[/LIST]
There isn't an option three available for me. Anyone else find this?

[GrannyGruntbuck]

Yes, it is incorrect.

Just listen to the options and it will be obvious which ones to select.

[jabbamk1]

Awesome. Good move IMO.

Now it's just down to EE need to get rid of their backwards unlocking policies.

[qasdfdsaq]

Actually I think 3 are the most backwards by not selling through independent retailers.

Phones bought through independents are usually cheaper and almost always unlocked anyway.

Bought my EE phone from Carphone Warehouse, £100 cheaper than EE themselves and it was unlocked out of the box.

[jabbamk1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Actually I think 3 are the most backwards by not selling through independent retailers.

But surely the free unlock overrides this....

Also, Three still sell their phones through third parties as far as i'm aware. Just not P4U or CPW.

[Arenas52]

I was surprised to find that my 3 branded phone supplied by 3 was unlocked!

[Thine Wonk]

Here are the unlock steps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQB4uXafuh4

[qasdfdsaq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jabbamk1

But surely the free unlock overrides this....

Also, Three still sell their phones through third parties as far as i'm aware. Just not P4U or CPW.

P4U and CPW were some of the last two third parties to do it, they're deliberately trying to move all sales in-house.

As for the free unlock - well it helps in relation to them all being unlocked to begin with at independents but still doesn't come close to the occasional ludicrous cashback deals the networks never do direct.

[jabbamk1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

As for the free unlock - well it helps in relation to them all being unlocked to begin with at independents but still doesn't come close to the occasional ludicrous cashback deals the networks never do direct.

I can understand why networks unlock phones from the beginning, it's not hard to work out why. But what's good is that Three, O2 and Voda all unlock phones for free now to some degree. EE are the only ones who still charge £20+ and make you wait at least 6 months or something daft before you can do it.

What you say about third parties is a different issue though, and besides, i've seen better deals from companies like affordable mobiles that are cheaper and better value for money than what P4U or CPW can do. I remember reading that 90% of all sales are currently done through Three directly and 10% are done via Third parties. So there is a reason as to why Three have stopped trading with P4U and CPW.

[GrannyGruntbuck]

I purchased one of my 3 UK phones SGS3 from Tesco mobile, so they do sell via independent retailers or at least di when I purchased mine a couple of years ago. It was unlocked.

My SGS4 came direct from 3 and is locked.

[qasdfdsaq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jabbamk1

What you say about third parties is a different issue though, and besides, i've seen better deals from companies like affordable mobiles that are cheaper and better value for money than what P4U or CPW can do.

Those are exactly the independents I'm talking about - they almost always do better deals than the networks themselves.

Quote:

I remember reading that 90% of all sales are currently done through Three directly and 10% are done via Third parties. So there is a reason as to why Three have stopped trading with P4U and CPW.

But which caused which? Not hard to imagine most sales being done directly when they terminated dozens of independents over the last few years. Is it why they stopped trading through dealers or because they stopped trading through dealers?

[jabbamk1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Those are exactly the independents I'm talking about - they almost always do better deals than the networks themselves.


But which caused which? Not hard to imagine most sales being done directly when they terminated dozens of independents over the last few years. Is it why they stopped trading through dealers or because they stopped trading through dealers?

Dozens?

Also you're wrong here. Three have had around 85%-90% of sales through their own channel for the past 2 years now. And this is even at a time when P4U and CPW were still trading with Three. So actually getting rid of Quidco, TCB, P4U and CPW wasn't because third party sales were high. They've been around 10-15% for the past 2 years.

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/News/20...r_numbers.aspx

[qasdfdsaq]

I said last few years. Phones4U were cut over a year and a half ago, so 80% of the last two years was with one of the two biggest independents already cut.

CPW and P4U aren't the only independents y'know. Dial-a-phone. E2Save. Mobiles.co.uk. One Stop Phone Shop. Mobile Phones Direct. Even Tesco. All no longer selling 3 handsets/contracts. A few others now only do PAYG SIMs or mobile broadband.

Your own article says 85% of sales were not direct just 6 years ago and went down to 11% 1.5 years ago. So just a few years ago they were mostly selling through independents. It's only within the last 2-3 years or so - right after lots of channel cuts - that the majority has been direct.

[jabbamk1]

I do agree Three are going solo like i mentioned back in the CPW thread. Not a bad thing tbh, especially if they continue the way they have for the past couple of years now.

But my point was that Three had already seen a big uptake in direct sales compared to indirect sales before they started cutting back on third parties. I can't find the link now but i'm sure i read about direct sales being around 85% even before P4U were cut.

[enapace]

I think this is a good idea nice to see it happening.

[Lidtop2013]

Just rang the number and it says something about " we'll get the unlock code to you" what if you have an iphone? There isn't any "unlock codes" for iPhones?

Has anyone from here who has an iphone on Three got their phone unlocked for free?