iPhone 5s locked to a sim-only contract

[padreJafaar]

I have been using a sim-only contract sim wih my iPhone 5s that I bought unlocked brand new and to my surprise I travelled for 2 weeks to Nigeria and couldn't use my Nigerian Sim on my iPhone. Asking for activation and it persistently failed leaving me without any means to reach my family back in UK for the entire period.i was told that my phone was locked to the Vodafone sim and I wish to ascertain why? It's not a contract phone and so I shld be able to use any sim on it. Pls I would appreciate information from the Tech team on this issue so I knw how best to handle this as my aiming contract ends next month and I don't want to make such mistake another time.

[jeffkinn · Accepted solution]

Only Apple itself can supply a factory unlocked phone that stays unlocked. If you bought it from a dealer such as Carphone Warehouse they should have told you that the phone will lock itself to the first network it's used with.

You have no option now but to go through the Vodafone unlock process and that can take some time to complete as Apple has to process the when asked to do so by the network.

[padreJafaar]

Wow! I got mine from Phone4Us january last yr. Well lessons learned. Wld have to explore the suggested Vodafone Unlock route by next month.
Thank you.