buy iPhone 3GS from Sharjah/Dubai - factory unlocked! Very urgent!

[arunkumar]

Hi,

[I have gone thro the forum for the past 2 hours trying to find out what I need, but didnt get all the info that i need. So Im starting a new thread with all my doubts!]

Regarding Buying the iPhone3GS:
1) I am aware that Du gives factory unlocked iPhone3GS. But when I enquired with etisalat yesterday, they informed that the iPhone3GS sold by them are locked to etisalat and that it will work only with their sim card. Whereas Magnus himself has confirmed in a few threads that phones supplied by etisalat too are factory unlocked like du! can someone confirm if what the etisalat guys told me was correct!
2) I heard that iPhone3GS from du are out of stock and that you have to book it by paying 200AED. I would like to know if the next shipment too would be factory unlocked or will it be locked to du network?

Regarding Activating the iPhone3GS after buying:
3) After i buy a factory unlocked iPhone3GS (from du or etisalat) without any contract, can I just bring the phone to India (without even opening the box), and activate the phone with BSNL (Indian GSM provider, but not associated with Apple) sim card in India? or should I activate it in the country of purchase itself?
4) If I have to activate it in Sharjah/Dubai, then will the phone get locked to Etisalat/du sim card that I use to activate, after activating it? or will it still work with my BSNL sim card in India, without having to jailbreak it or hack it or anything like that (which I dont want to do)?

I would really appreciate it if you could reply point by point! Im in urgent need of the information, as time is short!

Thanks a lot to all those who reply! I really appreciate the time spent! Im pretty sure that this thread would solve a lot of doubts for the other users in future too!
regards
arun !

[Shehzadali]

IMO - you can buy the handset from DU with a prepaid number for an additional 55 dhs. I think the cost of the iphone 16 gb is around 2450/- so u will end up paying 2500 dhs and that should do it. You wont have to activate ur iphone everytime you change the SIM. Its factory unlocked. Hope this helps

[arunkumar]

IMO - you can buy the handset from DU with a prepaid number for an additional 55 dhs. I think the cost of the iphone 16 gb is around 2450/- so u will end up paying 2500 dhs and that should do it. You wont have to activate ur iphone everytime you change the SIM. Its factory unlocked. Hope this helps

thanks for the information! that surely did help me!

[Magnus]

1) As you said, I've answered this before.
2) No one knows, I don't see why they would be locked though.
3) Already answered.
4) Factory unlocked means you can use on any network, so already answered.

[Bingo]

thanks for the information.

[arunkumar]

1) As you said, I've answered this before.
2) No one knows, I don't see why they would be locked though.
3) Already answered.
4) Factory unlocked means you can use on any network, so already answered.

-> regarding questions 3 and 4, my specific doubt was..
-> if I have to activate the sim in dubai itself or if i could activate with BSNL in india?
-> and if i HAVE to activate the sim in dubai ONLY, then my doubt is.. if the phone would get locked to whichever sim card (Etisalat or Du) i use to activate it.
-> So a reply to my specific question would be much appreciated! thanks for the reply! this site is THE BEST forum i have come across so far regarding apple in UAE! keep up the good work!

[Magnus]

-> regarding questions 3 and 4, my specific doubt was..
-> if I have to activate the sim in dubai itself or if i could activate with BSNL in india?
-> and if i HAVE to activate the sim in dubai ONLY, then my doubt is.. if the phone would get locked to whichever sim card (Etisalat or Du) i use to activate it.
-> So a reply to my specific question would be much appreciated! thanks for the reply! this site is THE BEST forum i have come across so far regarding apple in UAE! keep up the good work!

As far as I'm concerned, already answered... factory unlocked iPhone = activate and do whatever you want with whatever operator you want anywhere...

[michl]

-> regarding questions 3 and 4, my specific doubt was..
-> if I have to activate the sim in dubai itself or if i could activate with BSNL in india?
-> and if i HAVE to activate the sim in dubai ONLY, then my doubt is.. if the phone would get locked to whichever sim card (Etisalat or Du) i use to activate it.
-> So a reply to my specific question would be much appreciated! thanks for the reply! this site is THE BEST forum i have come across so far regarding apple in UAE! keep up the good work!

I'm not sure why you would have to activate the sim card here. You buy the phone, do as you like... Yes, you can buy the du iPhone and swap to BSNL later.

If the phone is factory unlocked by Apple then it will stay that way. Only illegally unlocked phones can re-lock (when updating the iPhone OS for instance).

Then, it has been said in these forums that both du and etisalat iPhones are factory unlocked. So you can buy either one and then swap sim cards as you wish - it'll work.

In fact I just happened to drop by an Axiom shop, where the salesperson told me their iPhone comes with a du sim card but if i want to keep my etisalat sim card I can just throw the du one and swap...

[arunkumar]

As far as I'm concerned, already answered... factory unlocked iPhone = activate and do whatever you want with whatever operator you want anywhere...

Ok! the work 'activate it anywhere' was the one that i was looking for. Cos I was not sure if apple checks to see if the iphones can be activated only in the countries in which they are bought!

What if I already own a du sim card? do I have to pay anything more than AED 2459 for an iPhone3GS 16GB if i buy the phone with my existing du number?

thanks for the info michl! ofcourse i am aware of the complications involved with jailbroken iphones! and that is the reason why Im ensuring that I get a officially factory unlocked iphone so that I can be safe, and do updations as and when they are available from apple!!!

[fangpyre]

You can buy the iPhone on your existing line.