SIM lock is prohibited in principle from October.What are the advantages and points of the user?| Mynavi News Mynavi News Mynavi

"SIM lock" that is necessary to communicate with a smartphone, but will be banned from October 1st after October 1, which ensures that SIMs from other carriers cannot be used.

However, smartphones sold in the future are planned to be able to be used by inserting other companies' SIMs without the need to unlock the SIM.

Because the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has been discussing at the "Switching Cermination Task Force" that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications was held until May 2021, the SIM lock would impair the convenience of the terminal buyer and inhibit the competition between carriers.It was said that the conclusion was that the SIM lock would be banned in principle.

On August 10, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced the revised version of the "Guidelines for securing smooth distribution and use of mobile terminal facilities" based on the results of opinion recruitment.According to this, SIM locks will be prohibited in principle from October 1, 2021.So, what are the changes in our smartphone use as SIM locks are prohibited in principle?

Private prohibition is scheduled for October 1, 2021, exceptions

The biggest change is that smartphones released after October 2021 will not be able to lock SIM in principle, and will be able to insert and use SIMs from other carriers without having to lock the SIM.That is.

For example, after purchasing a smartphone on au, it is possible to insert and use Softbank SIM immediately, and it is easier to switch to another carrier using the same terminal, which is the biggest advantage from consumers.It can be said.

Looking at the earlier guidelines, it seems that SIM locks are prohibited in principle, such as smartphones, feature phones, tablets, mobile routers, and USB modem.Therefore, if the terminal has been released after October 2021, you can basically think that you can switch to another company line without worrying about SIM lock.

However, the prohibition of SIM lock is not just a “uniform” but a “principle”.It is allowed to lock SIM.

However, in that case, if you can confirm your credit or payment, your career is required to unlock the SIM for free without the need for the customer.

The terminals released before October are not eligible

On the other hand, models released before October 1, 2021 are not subject to revised guidelines.If such a terminal is purchased on or after October 1, 2021, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that SIM locks may be applied as before, and if you use SIM from other carriers, you need to cancel.prize.

However, in fact, there are some carriers that have already provided terminals with the SIM lock in principle.Rakuten Mobile has not locked SIM on terminals sold from the beginning, and MVNO has already taken similar measures.Also, from August 2020, NTT DOCOMO has been passing the terminal without SIM locking if purchased by paying the terminal at once or in installments with a credit card.

On the other hand, KDDI and SoftBank are currently available in a lump -sum or credit card, and if they are purchased, they will only cancel the SIM lock if the user is offered, and it is thought that the same measures will continue until the guideline amendment.。

However, SoftBank announced on August 10 that if the procedure between SoftBank, Y -Mobile, and LINEMO branded, the SIM unlock procedure will be performed.In addition, KDDI says that it will sell the SIM lock principle of measures, "REDMI NOTE 10 JE", which is sold under au brands and other places, in principle, selling without SIM lock.There seems to be a little change in response.

Precautions when switching to another company using the same terminal

It is certainly an advantage for consumers that SIM locks have been banned in principle, but I remember that it would not always be the case if it could be used comfortably by inserting SIMs from other carriers into the same smartphone.is needed.This is because the condition of the important frequency band (band) for using mobile communication differs depending on the terminal.

Actually, the bands assigned to four mobile phones are not the same, for example, even if you compare them in a band called the same platinum band, there are differences between NTT DOCOMO's 800MHz band (band 19) and KDDI's 800MHz band (band 18).There is a 900MHz band (band 8) assigned to SoftBank, another band.

Moreover, the terminals sold from major carriers are often designed to be able to communicate comfortably using a band with license, except for some of the iPhone, and does not cover other companies' main bands.There are surprisingly many things.For this reason, if the band on the terminal side is not compatible with the band used by the carrier contracted, the communication speed will be slow or communication will not be possible, so it will not be possible to communicate comfortably.It may be possible.

The compatible bands of each terminal are information on the specifications published by the manufacturer for SIM -free terminals, and information is posted on the website of each carrier for terminals sold by carriers.When using a SIM with a different carrier with a terminal that has not locked SIM, it is better to check that information in advance.

It is also necessary to know that if you are not familiar with smartphones or SIMs, you can not communicate simply by replacing them with SIMs from other carriers.After replacing the SIM, you need to set APN (Access Point Name, the information required to connect to the Internet from the terminal), and if it is an iPhone, you will need to download a "configuration profile" to set that APN.It may be.

In particular, when using SIMs of MVNO or online -only plan such as "AHAMO", all of these settings and operations need to be done by yourself, and it does not support you in the store.Just because no SIM lock is not locked does not mean that anyone can easily switch to another carrier, and it is important to know that transfer requires certain knowledge about mobile communication.

Born in Fukushima Prefecture, graduated from Tohoku Institute of Technology.After developing digital content as an engineer, he turned into a mobile phone and mobile writer.Currently, from industry trends to culture, he writes in a wide range of mobile phones.