Postpaid users should rejoice soon as DICT and NTC are preparing to create a final order to local telcos like Smart and Globe to start mandatory unlocking of mobile phones from plans after completing the lock-in period.
Aside from the required completion of your postpaid contract, the user or customer should have no outstanding balance and obligations in order to proceed in unlocking the postpaid device. And of course, this unlocking service should be free of charge for all.
All postpaid phones in the Philippines are locked to a specific provider unless you request and pay the required amount to unlock it. However, this situation is very rare as I do not hear often about a local telco unlocking their devices.
For the order, this may take effect as early as January of 2019 once the NTC finishes the drafting of the order.
For the meantime, you can read our best prepaid and postpaid guides below.