SIM LOCK OR TELCO LOCK – WHAT IS IT & HOW TO FIX

When buying a latest secondhand mobile phones, many Malaysian are worried. Especially with the issues of sim lock, country lock, or even telco lock. But do we even know the differences? And if you already bought or have these issues with your current mobile phone what can you do to fix? In this short article we will explain to you what is the differences and how to fix this issues.

What is SIM lock and telco lock?

A SIM lock also know as network lock, carrier lock is a technical restriction built into mobile phones by mobile phone manufacturers for use by service providers to restrict the use of these phones to specific countries and/or networks. When a SIM lock is activated by a telco, the phone is locked to that telco alone, and can’t be used on another network unless it is unlocked.

As for Telco Lock, it’s when someone purchased via Telco companies and doesn’t fulfill the contract. Say for example Malaysia. The telecommunications company will follow up with Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) cooperates to ban your mobile phones from using any Malaysian Sim card. Read more about telco lock here.

How to check if it’s SIM lock?

Normally for SIM lock, when you insert a new sim card to the phone. There is a pop up message showing, “Invalid SIM card” or  “Network locked SIM card inserted”. So before you can move onto the actual unlocking stage, it’s good practice to first check if your phone has actually got a lock enabled. Follow the steps below:

Step 1. Remove your SIM card and insert a SIM card from another carrier. check if phone is unlocked
Step 2. If it works as normal and you can make calls, access the Internet and send texts, then your phone is unlocked.

If you find out that you do have a network locked SIM card inserted. Then you  can now consider either to call your carrier’s support team and inquire. Some people don’t like to do this because it usually means a fee will need to be paid, and it can also take a long time to get processed. Two big downsides to using this process, even though it can resolve the “Network locked SIM card inserted” error, are that it can be expensive and often takes up to 7 working days. For any user who wants to regain full access to their phone immediately, this is not optimal.

How to check if it’s telco lock?

How to check telco lock? It’s easy, first go to Settings – General – About – Network.  If ‘Phone Not Allowed’ comes out, that means your phone is a telco locked. The IMEI is blocked by Telecommunication Company.

How to fix SIM lock or telco lock issue?

As mentioned above for SIM lock, you may call your carrier’s support team and inquire. As for telco lock, iPhone XR/ XS / XS Max / 11 / 11 Pro / 11 Pro Max / 12 mini / 12 / 12 Pro / 12 Pro Max. We at SPR can repair the Telco Lock issue with hardware unlock within 1 working day. Same goes for SIM lock. The better solution for it is a third-party unlocking solutions.

This sharing is brought to you by SPR Communication Sdn Bhd. SPR provide all sort of phone and tablet repair services such as Screen Repair, Motherboard repair, Batterty Repair and many more. Visit SPR Facebook Page.

Alternatively you can visit our shop at Kepong Kuala Lumpur , Uptown Damansara Petaling Jaya, Sri Petaling. Setapak & Ampang We can help diagnose your phone for FREE!.. You may contact us to schedule an appointment here : +6018-394 4559