how to get it turned on in my name

[Android Question]

i bought a phone that is on a contract from a friend who is not going to pay his bill, how can i get this phone turned on in my name?

 

[Hadron]

If he has completed the minimum contract period, then just insert your SIM (if you are on the same network, or the phone is not network locked). Or if you are on a different network and the phone is locked, get him to speak to his provider and get it unlocked (easier if he is still with them). If you are on a CDMA network, so don't have a SIM, you'll have to speak to the network provider(s) - we don't have CDMA networks here, so I've no direct experience of this.

If that phone was bought from the provider with a contract, i.e. is a subsidised handset, and he hasn't completed the contract that he took out when he bought it, the network will regard him (correctly) as being in breach of contract if he does not pay and will block the phone. The only thing I can think of in that case would be speak to the network and see whether they can transfer the contract to you before any of this happens. They certainly won't cooperate with someone reneging on a contract and selling on the handset, so if that is the situation you need to sort it before he defaults on his bill.

If he has completed the minimum contract period it would be best to pay the last bill and formally close the contract - if he defaults on the bill they may well block the handset anyway, even if the handset subsidy is paid off, on the grounds that he owes them money.