Hi.

I was wondering if it would be possible to use an iPhone that was initially bought from another country and use it in Switzerland.

I did a little bit of research and I found out there's something called a 'country lock' on all iPhones. And if you unlock it, it's possible to use the same phone in practically every country on earth.

Is this possible? Will I be able take an iPhone bought from another country and have it connected to Swiss mobile phone service companies?

A reply will very much be appreciated. Thanks so much!

If your Iphone is not locked to your first/home/previous network you can use it. If it is locked you can ask the network to unlock it. They usually do it at the end of the contract or you will have to pay for it. Just insert a swiss sim in it and try...

It depends on where you bought it, not on where you are trying to use it.

In several countries you can buy carrier-independent iphones (but you pay the full price).
If it's a carrier device, you have to find out if that particular carrier sim-locks them or not. This is where you should focus your search.

Also as long as it wasn't from Verizon. They use CDMA. Not sure if the iPhones they sell have GSM capability. If they do you shouldn't have to unlock. They would have possibly have been sold as a "world phone".

Which doesn't mean it was sold unlocked. Verizon locks all of its phones. "World phone" just means that it can be used on GSM networks as well, using your Verizon SIM (if it has one - some Verizon phones don't have a replaceable SIM card)

Peter

So I should keep in mind that the phone should be
- a 3G, not CDMA.
- able to replace sim cards.
- unlocked on the country lock?

and the contract with my previous mobile service company should be expired/terminated.

Am I understanding everything correctly?

Thanks so much you guys!

It should be GSM, not CDMA.

You should just be able to replace the SIM card, unless your phone was previously "locked" to a single network provider. Only some network providers do this, and only if you bought the phone from them originally.

Thanks guys!