AT&T unlocking military iPhones, older models
updated 10:00 am EDT, Tue April 10, 2012
Support extending as far back as original iPhone
AT&T is quietly extending its iPhone unlocking efforts to deployed US military personnel, regardless of their contract status, a report says. Unlocking normally requires an iPhone to be off-contract. Carriers are legally required to suspend service to deployed military members without penalty, but the unlocking appears to be a voluntary action on AT&T's part, letting military staff use their iPhones with foreign networks.
A tip received by MacNN meanwhile backs reports that AT&T is limiting unlocking to five phones every 12 months. The information is said to come from a call to AT&T technical support, where the tipster also learned that the carrier is unlocking any generation of iPhone. In particular, the person says he had two first-gen iPhones (4 and 8GB) as well as one iPhone 3G unlocked.
