Question Re: swapping SIMs between cell phones
 

Simple question:

I have a Motorola RAZR phone with a Cingular account ... but I now have my eye on a Nokia 6170 (not offered by Cingular). Can I just purchase the Nokia and swap the SIM? Or is it more complicated than that?

Thx.

if a particular 9170 is not locked or bound to a carrier meaning UNLOCKED, then you can use it with any carrier. it depends on each individual phone

OK. So if I purchased an UNLOCKED Nokia 9170 I can just put in my SIM from my Motorola RAZR, right?

My limited experience with cellphones and service providers says yes.

I don't think it's possible for a SIM to be bound to any one phone - it just wouldn't make sense. Just make sure the new phone is open for all networks then you'll be fine.

Just one word of caution: depending on your setup you might not be able to transfer your contacts, pictures, messages, etc. between the two phones.

I mean, it will likely be possible, but not necessarily easy....

Other than that: SIMS cannot be locked to a certain phone or brand. Phones on the other hand can be locked to a certain provider, as others have pointed out.

In the UK, most highstreets have a store somewhere offering "Phone Unblocking" (telling the phone it's allowed to talk to any network), and many do "Phone Unlocking" (telling the phone to ignore the fact that you've made the wrong guess on your PIN too many times.

Taken together of course they allow anyone to reidentify a stolen handset...

Costs about £5

In theory you should be able to. Though when I bought my last phone, they had to do a verification thing... I'm assuming thats so that if a crate of new phones falls off the back of a truck, anyone can't just pop the sim in and go.

Just make sure that all your phone numbers, etc are saved into the SIM card and not into your phone's internal memory.

And what are you planning on doing with your unused RAZR? PM and let me know :)

You get the Nokia and put the cingular card in it with no trouble.
It amkes no difference if you have your card on motorola or nokia or whatever.
the sim card is what matters for cell phone companies.:thumbsup: