So that I'm not one of those people who vanishes as soon as they get an answer on a forum, I thought I'd post an update.
- O2 unlocked my iPhone 3GS for free, I just had to fill in the online form.
- One thing to watch out for is that you enter your correct password in the form, which seems obvious but it won't obviously tell you if you enter the wrong one, it will just look like it's accepted it and your request will apparently go through ok. I was using an incorrect password to start with, assuming it would tell me straight away if it was wrong, but it accepted my request and then I later got an email saying "I'm sorry, we have not been able to unlatch your iPhone at this time.
The reason given is: Sorry, you have not passed our security checks with
the information that you provided. Kindly check that you have provided
the correct information". - Once I got the correct password, O2 emailed pretty quickly with "Your iPhone unlatching request for IMEI xxxxxxxxxx has been
completed. To use a non-O2 Sim, place the Sim into the iPhone and
connect to iTunes using a USB cable. iTunes will confirm that the
iPhone has been successfully unlocked". - I then ordered a free pay as you go SIM from another phone provider in the UK. I won't mention their name here as this is an O2 forum.
- When the SIM arrived I popped the new SIM into my iPhone and connected it to iTunes.
- However when iTunes went through it's "Accessing iTunes Store" process the first time it reported the activation had failed and to try again later. The phone also had a "Requires Activation" message displayed.
- I ejected my iPhone, closed iTunes, unplugged the USB cable, then tried connecting to iTunes again.
- This time it reported activation was successful and the phone connected to the new phone network successfully.
Next step will be when I get to Australia in February so I can try out a pay as you go SIM over there. Hopefully that should save me a bit of cash in data roaming charges!
Hope this info helps other people out in the same situation.
