Cell phone freedom--at your own risk.QA OK, so there's all this talk about locked versus unlocked phones, with advice and Websites that help you unlock them. Why are they locked in the first place? Is it a security issue or something else?--P. Jones Atlanta When it comes to this issue, there are as many explanations as there are phones. The issue has reached a peak for users who feel that once they purchase a phone, it's theirs--and they should be free to do with it as they please. Charles Golvin, a principal analyst at Forrester Research Forrester Research is an independent technology and market research company that provides its clients with advice about technology's impact on business and consumers. Corporate facts
tr.v. sub·si·dized, sub·si·diz·ing, sub·si·diz·es 1. To assist or support with a subsidy. 2. To secure the assistance of by granting a subsidy. a significant portion of the cost of the phone and recoup that subsidy through service fees." Keeping the phone locked, so consumers can't use their phones with other wireless providers, is one barrier to switching, he says. A growing industry is now devoted to providing either third-party software (which sell you the "secret codes" for each phone) or a piece of hardware (connected by a data cable) that lets you write over the phone's operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. . Brenda Raney, VP of Corporate Communications Corporate communications is the process of facilitating information and knowledge exchanges with internal and key external groups and individuals that have a direct relationship with an enterprise. for Verizon Wireless Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, owns and operates the second largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, based on total wireless customers. says once this happens, cell phone users "take responsibility if the service or the phone doesn't work," adding "we aren't set up to provide technical support on other carriers' networks." --Sonya A. Donaldson Mail your technology questions to Cyberwise, BLACK ENTERPRISE 130 Fifth Ave. New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , NY 10011 or send an e-mail to donaldsons@blackenterprise.com. |
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