Unlock American iphone 3Gs for use in Asia?

[badbluesman]

I am interested in unlocking my 16GB iphone 3Gs for use in Southeast Asia. Over there all phones are sold factory unlocked. Data is free and users only pay for phone minutes.

If I do this will it affect my phone's functionality in the U.S.?

Will my U.S. iphone work with local SIMM cards in Southeast Asia?

I am running 4.3.5 (8L1)

 

[Gregoris]

no it wont be effected. ATT do official unlocks though so you might want to contact them

 

[iPhone3GS]

Well it will not affect, but you'd need to jailbreak it and unlock it, if not it will not work and it would say "sim card not compatible" and since there's not an untethered jailbreak for 4.3.5 (YET but it won't be here soon) so as unleached said, it would be a good idea to unlock it "Legally" with ATT or an Apple store.

 

[joelford]

Several people have now told me about a "legal unlock" performed by AT&T. So I went to an ATT Store and asked: they said NO they do not do it. Is there any truth to this? Should I call ATT customer service?

 

[joelford]

Does Apple do "legal" unlocking?

Also, if I jailbreak my 16GB 3Gs after unlocking it, can I use it as a mobile wifi hotspot without having to buy AT&T's overpriced and unnessesary 4GB data plan?

 

[Jmills87]

No, Apple will not unlock your phone at all, neither will any of the US providers. They might do that in Europe but not here in the States. You either have to buy a factory unlocked phone or do a hardware/software unlock.