How to Unlock a Telstra Phone for Free

unlock telstra phone

A locked phone means you’re locked into buying Telstra’s plans. You won’t be able to use other SIMs with better deals, more data and big discounts. So, here’s how to unlock your phone, which is if you’ve had the phone with Telstra for at least two years. Otherwise, you’ll pay a small fee.

How to unlock your phone from Telstra

Find out your phone’s unique International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEI) number.
Dial *#06# and take note of the IMEI number. It’ll be about 17 digits long. You can also find the number behind the removable battery (if your phone has one) or on your phone’s original box.

Contact Telstra directly.
Use the My Telstra app by sending a message under the Get help tab. Or, call Telstra on 125 8887 from a Telstra phone, 13 22 00 from a non-Telstra phone, or +61 439 125 888 if you’re overseas.

Follow the instructions.
A Telstra representative will show you how to unlock the phone and organise any fees that need to be paid. You can use a credit card or prepaid credit.

How much does it cost to unlock a phone from the Telstra network?

The fee to unlock your phone depends on how long you’ve had a Telstra plan:

  • Under 6 months – $80 unlock fee
  • 6 months or more, but under 2 years – $25 unlock fee
  • 2 years or more – Unlock your Telstra phone for free

Why is my mobile device locked on the Telstra network?

It used to be common for telcos to ‘lock’ a phone to its own network, essentially keeping you hostage to its plans unless you paid a fee. While it happens less often these days, if your phone is locked then you’ll need to unlock it before you can switch to a different plan provider.

Telstra only has one way to unlock a phone for free: you need to have had an active phone plan with Telstra for two years. Then you can call and ask to have it unlocked at no charge.

If you’re not in the 2-year camp, then you will likely have to pay a small fee to unlock your phone and switch to a different plan provider.

How to check if your phone is locked

If you bought your phone as part of a prepaid plan package through Telstra, there is a chance it’s locked to the network. That’s how Telstra makes money off your highly discounted device.

If you bought it outright, it’s probably not locked.

If you bought it second-hand, it could go either way, depending on what plan the previous owner had.

The most obvious way to find out if your phone is locked is if you’ve ever tried to use a non-Telstra SIM. If it won’t work, you’re locked in.

Is there any reason a locked phone is good?

You might initially save on the cost of the phone by buying a prepaid Telstra contract, but ultimately you’re missing out on the great deals with other providers. Telstra, Optus and Vodafone tend to have the most expensive plans on the market.

You can compare Telstra plans here, or a range of competitive SIM-only plans here.

Smaller plan providers (called MVNOs) have far more competitive prices and discounts – even the MVNOs like Boost that are owned by Telstra.

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