Identifying Service Provider?

Does anyone know how to identify the service provider by looking at the various series of numbers on a phone? My son got a RAZR for X-Mas but it won't work on Verizon. They (verizon) told me it'll work on Cingular, but I'm just wondering if it'll work with any other providers?

By the way, it's for sale on ebay if you're in the market for one...


Thanks for your help!


TIM

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It should probably work on T-Mobile if it is unlocked.

Can you define 'unlocked' as it pertains to cell phones? I keep seeing it, but I don't know what you mean by it...


I know, I'm retarded...

I'll use an example since I'm not an expert with this but I've read alot about it on this forum.

When you buy a cell phone from a carrier it comes locked, meaning you can't take it down to another carrier and have them hook up service. Now if you get hold of the unlock code then any other carrier should be able to reprogram it to work on their network. There are some limitations though depending on what technology the phone runs off of. It's either GSM or CDMA.

GSM carriers include Cingular and T-Mobile
CDMA carriers include Verizon and Sprint.

So if the phone is unlocked it can only be brought over to another network that runs on the same technology.

Thanks, that makes sense. And it widens the pool of potential buyers to all GSM carriers, rather than just Cingular.

Please note that "unlocking" only applies to GSM phones and providers, as CDMA networks use completely different technology that is not "unlockable".

cool I didn't know that, now I do.