Brand new OTB from USA... Will it work on O2 in UK?

Hi, I'm a noobie to this group I must admit! But I have one question:

I am in the UK and have ordered an IPHONE from the USA, which will probably be locked to AT&T network.

Now, the only UK Network provider which exclusively supports the IPHONE is called O2, and their service starts on Nov 9th. Only problem is that:

(1) I can't wait that long;
(2) Cost of phone (£270) PLUS expensive recurring charge of £35/month is extortionate!!

So my question is, and sorry if it sounds stupid... If I open my new IPHONE box, activate it (iligitametly if it doesn't let me 'properly') and then put my O2 SIM card in, will I be able to make/receive phone calls? I mean, O2 is officially supported (albeit not 'till Nov 9)... it's not like I'm putting in a Vodafone or Orange SIM in am I?!

OR do I have to activate and unlock like everyone else??

Thanks
Nikki

If you are getting one in the US, you might as well just unlock it if it's a 1.0.2 firmware, or downgrade it if it's the 1.1.1 firmware, and then unlock it.

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Originally Posted by Fuzzlet

downgrade it if it's the 1.1.1 firmware, and then unlock it.

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Please tell us how you do that!!!:eek:
I've yet to see anyone downgrade back to 1.0.2 and unlocked it!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nikki_0h9

Hi, I'm a noobie to this group I must admit! But I have one question:

I am in the UK and have ordered an IPHONE from the USA, which will probably be locked to AT&T network.

Now, the only UK Network provider which exclusively supports the IPHONE is called O2, and their service starts on Nov 9th. Only problem is that:

(1) I can't wait that long;
(2) Cost of phone (£270) PLUS expensive recurring charge of £35/month is extortionate!!

So my question is, and sorry if it sounds stupid... If I open my new IPHONE box, activate it (iligitametly if it doesn't let me 'properly') and then put my O2 SIM card in, will I be able to make/receive phone calls? I mean, O2 is officially supported (albeit not 'till Nov 9)... it's not like I'm putting in a Vodafone or Orange SIM in am I?!

OR do I have to activate and unlock like everyone else??

Thanks
Nikki

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Hi,

It'll work fine. You will have unlocked it so it will not be covered by Apple as like a normal UK iPhone would be.

I have mine on Vodafone UK and it works fine. Also bear in mind that the phone LOVES to use GPRS/EDGE data services and from memory, O2 are very expensive.

Expect your bill to be high or your credit to be used.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hyperzine

Please tell us how you do that!!!:eek:
I've yet to see anyone downgrade back to 1.0.2 and unlocked it!

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There are hundreds of threads about this - it is possible.

Guys - I think what he's asking is if he actually has to unlock it as he has an existing O2 SIM (the official iPhone UK carrier).

If he activates the phone, but doesn't unlock, will it work with his O2 SIM?

The problem I can see is that you will need 1.1.1 as that was the firmware on the phones at the UK release, but as yet you can't activate. Yet if you downgrade to 1.0.2 you can activate, but it won't be recognised as an 'official' SIM.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redgsr

Guys - I think what he's asking is if he actually has to unlock it as he has an existing O2 SIM (the official iPhone UK carrier).

If he activates the phone, but doesn't unlock, will it work with his O2 SIM?

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No. It'll be locked to AT&T sims. Each provider has seperate SIM ranges.

AT&T 8901xxxx
02 UK 8944xxxx

At least, when I tried my O2 UK test sim this was the case.

Even with 1.1.1? (Although this doesn't solve the activation problem...)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redgsr

Even with 1.1.1? (Although this doesn't solve the activation problem...)

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I doubt it but i'll have a play later and see. Although I don't see them doing this as it'll damage their revenue (and also the networks revenue), it is possible.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mattmartincouk

Hi,

It'll work fine. You will have unlocked it so it will not be covered by Apple as like a normal UK iPhone would be.

I have mine on Vodafone UK and it works fine. Also bear in mind that the phone LOVES to use GPRS/EDGE data services and from memory, O2 are very expensive.

Expect your bill to be high or your credit to be used.

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This is bad! I don't want to use edge... Can I disable it? Sure I want to browse the internet, check emails, use utube etc, but I can use my own broadband (using WI-FI) for that!!