Confused, same network but different provider

swizzlebob

My son has a phone on Virgin media on PAYGo, he does not use phone much but topping up £5 or more a month, so thinking of changing to a rolling contract sim only deal

Seen one for pg mobile runs on EE same as Virgin, but I emailed them and they say I would need to get phone unlocked or get a new unlocked phone, why is this?

Sorry to sound thick, but surly EE is EE

cookie365

You can have network locks and service provider locks.

Of course the phone might not be locked anyway - get an EE payg sim and see if it works. Or just go for it and be prepared to pay to unlock it.

Kim_13

As Cookie says, you should get an EE (or another EE MVNO) PAYG sim and try it. Some may be free, though EE don't seem to supply one without a bundle, so perhaps try Asda. Asda are EE and supply a free sim with no spend required (online.) I think they charge in store.

I've only heard of Tesco having a service provider lock (so the phone needs unlocking to work on O2 or giffgaff, even though they're all O2) though it's possible that Virgin do also.

grumbler

Usually it works in one direction only
A phone locked to the main network (EE) works with its MVNOs' SIMs (Virgin, Asda, ...).
A phone locked to a MVNO (Virgin) doesn't work with the main network's SIM (EE).