Iphone 4gs unlocked but not activating- living abroad

[bsufgs]

Been under contract (pay monthly) for over 8 years with vodafone in the UK and now living in Singapore. As my contract was running out on my Iphone 4Gs I contacted Vodafone UK to get my phone unlocked and received a confirmation email from NUC resolutions that it had been done, along with my IMEI details etc with instructions on how to activate a new sim card i.e ( Please replace the SIM (use a SIM which has never been used with this iPhone) and connect to iTunes or perform a software restore via iTunes).

I have tried doing this but each and every time I do it, I receive the same message:

(The SIM card inserted in this iPhone does not appear to be supported.
The SIM card that you currently have installed in this iPhone is from a carrier that is not supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server. This is not a hardware issue with the iPhone. Please insert another SIM card from a supported carrier or request that this iPhone be unlocked by your carrier. Please contact Apple for more information.)

Contacted Vodafone/NUC resolutions and again they confirm that the phone has been unlocked (even checked this myself with various websites using IMEI number)

The sim card's I am trying to use are of course foreign sim cards (singtel/starhub). The phone still works if I put in my original UK vodafone simcard but when try to use a different sim card no matter what other sim card I put into the phone it will not activate/unlock, and thus remains locked to my original vodafone sim card. Have restored/backed up my iphone numerous times and tried activating with many different sim cards but always get the same message and nothing appears to be working. I have the latest Itunes/iphone software installed. 

NUC resolutions suggested it maybe because I am not currently in the UK and under the vodafone UK network area when trying to restore/activate a new sim card and complete the unlocking procedure. But is this actually correct?

Has anyone had any problems similar to this and found a solution. Vodafone why is this happening and what can be done? 

Thanks,

[bsufgs]

Sorry its a Iphone 3GS not iphone 4GS- but don't see this as an issue.

[kids]

It should not be necessary to do a ###### procedure, just a different sim.

If your problem is actually with activating the phone have you tried activating it with your Vodafone sim in it then once activated replacing the sim with your overseas sim and again connecting to iTunes to see if you get the unlocked message?

Once the phone is activated just simply swapping the sims and connecting to iTunes should do the trick as if Apple have the phone showing as unlocked in their database it is not going to relock itself to Vodafone.

[Ben_H]

Hi bsufgs,

Welcome to the eForum.

We always urge customer to unlock their phones while in the UK as we can't guarantee the process if you're overseas. While you won't need to be connected to the Vodafone network, it can be down to the iTunes account and location.

If the phone is confirmed as unlocked with us and Apple, the only things I can suggest at this point are:

• Mail the iPhone to someone back in the UK so they can sync the phone here for you.
• Double check the other SIM cards you're trying are definitely active and not deactivated or blank SIMs.

Obviously the first suggestion can be costly and difficult to arrange, so I'd like to make absolutely sure it's the right IMEI that's been requested for an unlock. I've sent instructions on how to reach my team here so we can see.

Cheers, Ben

[JohnTranter]

Hi bsufgs,

I'm in Bangkok and have exactly the same problem as you have described. It was only after I upgraded to iOS6 that my iPhone decided it needed to re-activate. Don't fancy posting the phone back to the UK.

Did you manage to solve your problem? How did you do it?

John

[kids]

Did you buy the phone from Vodafone?

It sounds as though the phone has been unlocked from a different network byby jailbreaking it and when you updated the ios it relocked to the original network.

As you are in Bangkok it would be worth a visit to Panthip Plaza where you will find hundrededs of mobile phone stalls that as the phone is on ios 6 will be able to take it back to the earlier ios.which you can use until you get back to the UK. If you are not returning and the problem is with a jailabreak then the activation problem will happen every time you attempt to update the ios.