Wireless carriers are usually among the most disliked services (for many reasons), but in Canada, a new law could make life a little better for consumers. Under the proposed regulation, carriers would be required to unlock the phone at the end of a contract. Unlocking is really a hit or miss depending on which carrier you are dealing with. For example, T-Mobile USA has unlocked all my phones if I asked them on the phone and told them that I needed to use a foreign SIM card. On the contrary, AT&T has always refused to do so.

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Such a regulation would at least ensure that once you’ve paid your share of the subsidy, you will be free to use the phone on whichever network you want. It will also make it easier to resell if you choose to do so (this is *your* money). Although it’s understandable that carriers want something in return for the subsidy (typically worth about $400), a smartphone user does pay about $2000 over the lifetime of a 2-years contract.

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