OK that title was abit more dramatic than needed to be honest but this subject is one close to most mobile phone enthusiast's hearts. Alot of people (much like myself) look forward to the latest cool handset, it turns out it's not just us the buying public but the mobile networks drool over them just as much and want them for their own.

This is what happens when new handsets come out and they only work with one network, normally for a month then it will be available on other networks too. It's a good way for mobile operators to draw in more customers both new ones who don't have a phone but also people on other networks desperate to get the latest tech toy, and it works!

The thing is that for many of us we'd like to be able to get whatever mobile phones we like without having to buy in to a contract with a particular provider. In my case I wanted to get the Nokia N95 8GB but it was only on Vodafone at the time, so I had to explore the murky world of unlocking mobile phones. This is my story...

There are a number of methods for unlocking mobile phones all with varying levels of difficulty and depend on the mobile you're seeking to unlock. Some require an extra piece of equipment which is able to reprogram the phone's circuits, where as some require a simple code dialled into your phone.

Luckily my phone is a Nokia, currently locked to Vodafone with all manner of red coloured menus (It is worth pointing out now that my contract is with O2) which I wanted rid of. As I was saying luckily most modern Nokia phones only require a code from the network operator, although I was not a Vodafone customer and didn't quite like the idea of phoning them up and telling them my intentions as there's every chance they could just block the phone.

So I needed to do a bit more research, I wouldn't be able to do it myself as the codes are operator and IMEI (the phone's specific identification) specific so there wasn't going to be a special "wonder code" out there on the internet...dammit!

I looked around some Mobile Phone forum and found a couple of people who said they could do it for me...for a price. To be fair it wasn't bad really since apparently if you're a bonafide Vodafone customer then it will cost around £20-30 to get the codes, on these forums people were hawking them for as little as £15. I thought it wa sworth a shot since they said they could ge tthe codes within 48 hours, I'd heard Vodafone can take up to two weeks in some cases, far too long to wait!

So once I'd contacted a reputable guy on the forums he mentione dhe worked for Vodafone/knew someone on the inside, now not being the shady type I enquired about the legality of this whole process and was told it was perfectly legal and had been done for many years. Not feeling any more assured I went ahead anyway and before I knew it I got an email from my contact saying that the code would be done within the hour.

An hour passes and true to his word the code comes to me in an email, complete with instructions, it needed alot of * and # key presses and a steadt hand to enter all the numbers right. Once I hit the last button a message popped up saying "SIM lock deactivated". Success! I put my O2 SIM inside and tried phoning the house phone, it rang!

So there we go, as dodgy as it seemed my phone now works just fine and even managed to find out some more information on how to debrand the phone, so I got rid of all the intrusive Vodafone branding (basically red, everywhere).

What mad eme laugh though was that a week after I did this O2 released the "New Nokkia N95 8GB"...oh well at least I was the first one on O" for a week.