In order to prevent you from using your mobile phone on other networks, some carriers lock your mobile phone to a certain sim-card or network. In that case you can not use your BlackBerry smartphone with another sim-card or on a different network.

The need to use your BlackBerry with a different sim-card

Imagine you are travelling to another country and want to use a prepaid card from a company in that country so that you don’t have to pay roaming fees. If you BlackBerry is unlocked, you can use whatever sim-card is around, if it is locked you will have to pay roaming fees if you use your BlackBerry abroad.

Finding out if your BlackBerry is unlocked

If you want to figure out if your BlackBerry is unlocked and can be used on different networks you have to follow these steps:

1. Go to Options > Advanced Options > SIM Card
2. Type in “MEPD”

Then different entries will appear and if you BlackBerry smartphone is unlocked the entry “Network” will be shown as “Disabled” or “Inactive”.

What to do if you BlackBerry is locked

If your BlackBerry is locked and you want to unlock it you can either contact your carrier and ask under what circumstances they will send you the unlock code or you could use one of the many commercial unlock services – the best thing is to use Google to find which one.

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