CouponCodes4U released their latest survey this weekend about unlocking cell phones and the results are pretty shocking. The site polled 2,491 US adults, each of whom owned a cell phone that was currently in use. Respondents were initially asked whether or not they were in a contract with a phone carrier at the moment, to which the majority, 72 percent, said that they were. 15 percent said they were not, while 13 percent admitted that their phone was off contract.
When asked whether or not they had ever unlocked a cell phone before, the majority, 57 percent, said they had not, while 43 percent said they had. The respondents, who admitted that they had unlocked a phone before, were asked to stipulate their reasons why and the majority, 53 percent, cited that they wanted to use their handset abroad with an international SIM card. A quarter, 25 percent, explained that they had sold their unlocked phone online, and 14 percent explained that they wanted to change the SIM card but not their handset. 8 percent said that they had upgraded and wanted to give their old phone to a family member or a friend.
All respondents who took part in the survey were asked whether or not they agreed with the latest ruling making cell phone unlocking illegal and the majority, 91 percent, said that they did not. When asked why they disagreed, 49 percent of respondents said that consumers should be allowed to decide how their handsets are used, while 32 percent said that handsets are too expensive without the unlock option. 19 percent of respondents said that they wanted to be able to switch providers without contract hassle.
According to the research, 32 percent of respondents admitted that they would continue to unlock their handset even though it is illegal, while 12 percent said that they might consider unlocking a handset, dependent solely on the situation.
Those who said it would depend on the situation were asked to explain what situations would make it necessary for them to unlock a phone, to which the majority, 51 percent, admitted that they would want to unlock a phone when selling a handset online. 37 percent said they would want to unlock it for traveling abroad. 12 percent said they would only do so if they needed to switch SIM cards.
It looks like the court ruling on unlocking cell phones hasn't fared will with the general public. Let's hope the ones who do unlock their phones won't get caught.
Twitter: @ddeino
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