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Many network providers lock phones to their network and sell them at low cost. When users buy such phones they need to stay with that network till the contract ends. In this way the network provider increases their potential. Incase a user needs to unlock their phone in the middle of contract they can request their respective network provider. If they deny there are many free online unlocking vendors like Unlock-free.com where they unlock basic mobile models. I am not sure about the cable thingy as it is new to me.

What does unlocking a phone mean?

In addition to that, I have a Nokia 3220 and I believe you cannot hook that one up to a PC.
I might be wrong...

What does unlocking a phone mean?

AJ,

When you get a cell phone, the device is "locked" to work with only a certain cell phone company. In this case, the 3220 comes "locked" to work with only T-Mobile. However, there are "unlock" codes and software available. Once a phone becomes "unlocked," you can use it with any service.

Well...Actually not just any service. It has to be a service that uses GSM technology. In the United States, T-Mobile and Cingular are the 2 biggest GSM companies. Sprint and Verizon do not use GSM and swear that GSM is not the way to go claiming that it is not reliable. The truth is, GSM is the worldwide standard. A GSM network can handle more call volume than a CDMA network (Verizon and Sprint = CDMA), giving you clearer calls and fewer dropped calls. Sprint and Verizon will never upgrade to GSM because it would cost them too much money to convert their entire CDMA networks to GSM. The old AT&T Wireless attempted to convert to GSM and was rather unsuccesful. AT&T was later bought by Cingular, who was succesful in converting from CDMA to GSM. T-Mobile (formerly known as Voicestream), by the way, was the first GSM company in the United States.

Currently, Verizon has over 51M subscribers in the US due in part to it's large network. If you live on a farm and have a cell phone, chances are it's either Verizon or Sprint. T-Mobile has over 21M subscribers in the US, primarily in urban areas. T-Mobile has over 86M subscribers worldwide.

What does unlocking a phone mean?

I just got a phone and am unsure what everyone refers to when they say "Unlocking the phone"? Any heads up? Also, are third party cables safe to purchase to connect my phone with the computer? I have the 3220. I see a lot of cheap ones on the net for like $10.00 that come with a CD filled with games/sounds/wallpapers etc. Are they going to screw up my phone?