In message 2413048.shutbPyDd9@robinton.llondel.org,
Dave {Reply Address in.Sig} <noone$$@llondel.org> Proclaimed from the
tallest tower:

I can't see why they charge you if you have a contract as you are committed
to keep paying them for the minimum term whether you continue to use their
network or not.
I CAN understand them charging you to unlock a PAYG handset, though. However
I think they should unlock it for free once you've spent more than a certain
amount with them (say £100). Having said that, do you get much of a discount
on the actual retail value of the phone when you buy PAYG, or are you paying
close to the SIM Free price anyway...?

No benefit of using Orange at all, slower more expensive, and more
difficult... however, at the time of asking, I couldn't get a confirmed
answer that it was unlockable on the High Street. (My understanding is that
certain phones cannot be unlocked by shops or market stalls, only by the
network operators.) I just wanted to be sure I would have some way of
unlocking if before I bought it, going via Orange was the last resort...
As it happened, I got it unlocked at a phone stall on the market, though I
couldn't find anywhere that'd do it for anything like as cheap as a fiver.
In the end, it cost me 15 quid, and I got him the throw in de-branding and
flashing to the latest SE firmware as well...

In message 666dnQl7lcJMdDzanZ2dnUVZ8vCdnZ2d@bt.com,
Simon Ough <simon.orange@NO-SPAM-PLEASEbtinternet.com> Proclaimed from the
tallest tower:

Thanks.
Hopefully I'll be able to get it done at the local unlocking shop, but at
least I know that worst case, I can get it done by Orange for 20quid after 3
months. If necessary, I'll just keep using my old phone in the meantime...

That, however, is illegal.  I have had no problem with getting a phone
unlocked as soon as I have registered it. Sometimes they ask why? To
make it easier for them I sometimes say that I am about to go abroad and
want to use a local SIM.  Once or twice I've had CSAs saying the phone
belongs to Orange. I then say "Does that mean Orange relinquishes its
exemption from the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1948" and they then change
their minds.

It is because the operators don't own the phones that they don't need to
have each phone individually licenced and managed.

Doesn't really bother me all that much at all. (Hence the smiley),  it just
irritates me at a very minor level that it has the logo even though the
phone no longer has anything to do with Orange and that I've paid MY money
to walk around carrying an advert for THEIR product(and yes I know this
applies to pretty much any branded item that you buy).

To be honest, it's only a tiny logo and actually looks Ok as the keyboard
has a kind of orange(with a small 'o') theme going on anyway.

Tried that...

By the way, anyone want to buy a SE 610i Special Edition.
It looks just like the standard model, but it's about 1cm shorter, and has
easy access to the internal circuitry...