TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: Three Texas Men With Cellphones Arrested on Terrorist Charges

Re: Three Texas Men With Cellphones Arrested on Terrorist Charges

Mark Crispin (mrc@cac.washington.edu)
Sat, 19 Aug 2006 19:50:09 -0700

On Sat, 19 Aug 2006, Mr Joseph Singer wrote:

> Well, if they did think that either the "terrorists" were stupid or the
> Feds were stupid since TracFone won't work anywhere other than in North
> America and only works where there's a compatible network none of which
> are in Iraq or anywhere else in the Middle East, Asia or Europe for
> that matter.

Not necessarily.

TracFones are GSM, TDMA, or CDMA depending upon the region. Even if
the GSM phones are GSM 850/1900, that's still useful elsewhere in the
Americas once the phone is unlocked (note that TracFone itself is a
subsidiary of America Movil, a Latin America mobile phone company).

There are several countries overseas in which CDMA phones will work
(including Israel).

However, the number one reason for bulk buying TracFones is that the
packages can be broken up. The SIM cards (in GSM phones) have airtime
that is generally worth the cost of the phone, and the battery and
charger sold separately is worth that again.

Either the phone is tossed out, or if unlocked is again reusable on
the secondary market. Unlike some European countries, it is perfectly
legal to unlock a phone; when you buy a phone in the US, title to the
physical phone transfers to the purchaser even if the purchase price
was heavily subsidized. Without a contract (and since it's prepay
there's no contract), there's really no legal recourse for the prepay
company if the purchaser unlocks the phone and resells it.

TracFone attempted to claim a DMCA violation against one unlocker (Sol
Wireless Group), but I don't think that got anywhere.

Strange to say, though, unlocking is not a big thing in the US the way
it is in Europe. Most unlocked phones sold in the US are from
Europe...

-- Mark --

http://panda.com/mrc
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to eat for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed sheep contesting the vote.

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