Wireless carrier Sprint is getting ready to start locking the iPhone devices that are being activated on its airwaves starting today, leaked info from the company shows.
There has been a lot of talk last month on whether Sprint will be offering the iPhone 4S unlocked or not, and the carrier said at that time that it is standard policy to have the SIM on its devices locked.
However, the company also said that, while
the iPhone 4S arrives on its network unlocked, it is set to be locked during the activation process.
The aforementioned leaked document shows that, starting today, all iPhone 4S devices that will be activated on the wireless carrier's website will get their SIM locked.
However, the process is not meant to affect the experience that users receive from the device, and should not even be visible to end-users.
The new
Apple iPhone 4S was unveiled to the world in early October, and started shipping in the US in mid-October.
In addition to Sprint, wireless carriers such as AT&T and Verizon also made the new device available for their customers.
Among the three, Verizon was the only one to fully commit to unlocking the iPhone 4S on its airwaves, so that its customers would have the possibility to travel abroad with their handsets and put foreign SIM cards in them.
Sprint, however, said that the iPhone will be by definition locked on its network, but that it will make exceptions for those users who plan on traveling with their phones aboard.
The said document, which emerged into the wild via
SprintFeed, seems to imply that only
handsets activated from November 11th forth will be impacted by the SIM locking action, and that those who purchased the device prior to that date won't.
Sprint users who would like to travel abroad and would have their iPhone 4S devices unlocked should head over Sprint Worldwide to learn more on the wireless carrier's International services.
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