Prepaid: Are sims locked to the phone?

[lokio]

I have MetroPCS with the Optimus F3. Since I have several gsm phones, I like to freely switch between them whenever I want to, but Metro locks the sims to each phone. In order for me to switch phones, I have to call them each time and defeats the purpose of gsm phones in my opinion.

Does T-Mobile prepaid lock their sim cards to a specific phone too? If not, are their any other benefits of switching to T-Mobile in order for me to justify an extra $10/month?

 

[iTzKPanda]

Back when I had T-Mobile's prepaid for a few months, they didn't lock the sim cards to the phone. I could switch out the sim card from phone to phone without calling.
Although, I'm not 100% positive if that's true to this day.

And depending on your area, your speeds and coverage from T-Mobile might be better.

 

[mogelijk]

No, T-Mobile does not "lock" the SIM to the card. You can swap between phones that are capable of working on T-Mobile's network (either a T-Mobile branded phone or an unlocked GSM phone).

I suspect, given more time, that MetroPCS won't either. I think MetroPCS' problem is that they have been a CDMA carrier and haven't updated their system. The question, to me, is if they will update the system before turning their CDMA network off, which I believe is scheduled for late 2015.

 

[tube517]

I swap phones all the time on my T-Mobile sim