Activating US phone in the UK

Hi, am having issues activating my iphone which was originally purchased in the US.
I spoke to O2 and was able to get a post pay sim which according to them allows you to then activate through itunes and select an iphone tariff. So after restoring my iphone back to base settings and inserting the new post pay sim card itunes comes up with a warning stating that it does not recognize the sim and can't activate, which I assume is because the phone was originally purchased in the US. Is there anyway of tapping into the iphone configs and tricking it into thinking that it was purchased in the UK as I would prefer to go with a proper o2 iphone plan.

Thanks,
Matt

The phone's baseband is carrier specific (as expected for it being a locked phone). So even if you got a O2 SIM it won't activate an iPhone purchased in the US for use with AT&T.

This was discovered pretty quickly after 1.1.2 came out.

You'll have to unlock it to have it work with an O2 SIM (or any SIM other than AT&T).

As for the actual data plan, will O2 let you add the iPhone plan without using iTunes to do it?
I would imagine that it's possible that things like visual voicemail and all would work on any iPhone (including unlocked) if the SIM has the proper instructions on it (I think, I could be wrong here).

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Originally Posted by mattbennettau

Hi, am having issues activating my iphone which was originally purchased in the US.
I spoke to O2 and was able to get a post pay sim which according to them allows you to then activate through itunes and select an iphone tariff. So after restoring my iphone back to base settings and inserting the new post pay sim card itunes comes up with a warning stating that it does not recognize the sim and can't activate, which I assume is because the phone was originally purchased in the US. Is there anyway of tapping into the iphone configs and tricking it into thinking that it was purchased in the UK as I would prefer to go with a proper o2 iphone plan.

Thanks,
Matt

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I don't think you can do this. First the easy part is sim unlocking so it accepts an O2 sim. But the hard part is going to be getting an O2 sim card you can register through iTunes. You might be able to do it with a pay as you go sim but I doubt it. You could try phoning O2 and say you bought an iPhone and lost the O2 sim that comes with it, and could they send you a new one?

There is zero point in going to all this hassel though, the whole point of paying for the O2 contract is so you don't need the hassle of sim unlocking etc.... If I were you I would ebay your US phone and buy a UK one in the store.

Thanks for you replies guys. I was actually able to get my hands on a proper
iphone sim by talking to o2 and saying that i'd bought a secondhand iphone.
Only problem is when I now use that sim it obviously cross checks with the
baseband and comes up with an error saying its non-standard carrier sim
because the phone its programmed to only accept AT&T sims if the phone is locked.

I've tried to talk to o2 and get them allow a US phone on the network and they
say its not possible, has to purchased in the UK. Guess its time to buy a UK iphone.
Thanks for clearing this up guys, off to o2.

i have a couple of questions...

1) why dont you just unlock the phone and use the sim that way?

2) Iphone contracts are not good.. why dont you sign up for a simplicity o2 contract (contract without a phone), you will get a way better deal and wont be tied into an 18month contract, as simplicity contracts you can cancel with 1 months notice i believe... the simplicity sim will work fine once the iphone is unlocked.. you will get loads more for your money as well

simplicity - £30 a month will get you 1200mins & 1000texts free

iphone - £35 600 mins & 500 text free

or finally... why dont you take out a new o2 contract get a nice new free phone... sell the phone... keep the sim and wack it into your iphone? that way you will even get money back towards what you paid for the iphone?