An unlocked phone is one that can be used with any carrier.
In the United States, it’s illegal for a company to use the cell phone frequencies assigned exclusively to another company in order to provide service. Therefore, both companies must buy their own spectrum from the FCC which means they end up paying sky-high prices for those licenses. As a result of this high cost for these licenses, most communication providers don’t want to waste their money on something that isn’t profitable–those are typically reserved for after calling, internet browsing and video chat–most phones on U.S. carriers cost $200 or more before buying minutes! However, if your phone isn’t locked you’re able to bypass these high prices by buying an off-contract phone for a fraction of the cost.
Now you know what an unlocked phone is, but are there risks involved in buying an off-contract phone? Yes! There are.
What are the risks?
There are tons of cheap phones out there that aren’t worth owning. Those kind usually have low quality screens, bad processors, low RAM, etc. Those kind aren’t worth buying unless you’re a person who buys a new phone each year…
