Sim questions

bouicca21

1. A friend is at the end of his contract and wants to keep his phone and get a sim only deal on another network.  Obviously needs to get the phone unlocked. What then?   Does he need a PAC? 

2. A charity I volunteer for uses an ancient payasyou go phone with a battery that no longer holds a charge for very long.  I have an old Samsung that the charity could use instead. Theirs is on TMobile, mine is on EE.  If I get my EE phone unlocked can I just shift the sim over or do I need to do something more complicated?

Sandtree

1) Phone may already be unlocked, O2 stopped locking most brands of phone in 2018. If it is locked then they'll need to unlock (this can sometimes be done from the networks app) and a PAC code if they want to retain their number.

2) Depending on ages of phones the sim size may be different but going from ancient to old means if anything it'll be smaller and if the sim isnt ancient it can be broken down to the right size... if it is ancient a new sim will be needed rather than cutting it down yourself. 

Anything more complicated will depend on how the phone is used... basic phone calls, texts etc will all just move to the new number... any other messaging services (eg WhatsApp etc) may need to be changed to the new number etc.

getmore4less

Check how much a new battery would be for the phone they use.

What makes you think the phones are locked?

Just stick other SIM in and see if it works.

Depending on ages you may need new sims even for the same network/number the sizes have changed over the years.

Probably worth reviewing the contracts as a lot of old ones are not good value

bouicca21

Thank you.  

So for my friend (1) all he needs is to check whether it’s locked (presumably the provider will tell him if it is) and get a PAC?

as for (2) when I say ancient I am not exaggerating.  I recognise the model as it’s the same as the first mobile I ever bought. It was for my daughter who would have been in the early years of secondary school.  She is now 37.  I am amazed the thing works at all. In IT terms it must be a museum piece.  I tried putting the sim in my old Samsung (it is the right size) but it didn’t work, hence me assuming that it must be locked.

J_B

Make and model of both phones may help folks to advise here.

flashg67

1) easiest way to get a PAC is to is text ‘PAC’ to 65075 from the number you want to move. Then get the sim of your choice and once activated, give the PAC to the new provider - can often be done online. It usually swaps the number over night.