Sprint iPhone 4S Unlocked At First, Then Locked & Unlocked; Wait What?

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Sprint is the latest addition to Apple’s growing portfolio of iPhone carrier partners and starting tomorrow the mobile operator will start selling the iPhone 4S in stores. And Sprint is certainly ready to bring something unique to the table when it comes to U.S. iPhone offers, an unlimited data plan, something Verizon and AT&T are no longer offering to new subscribers.

That’s all pretty simple but what’s just a little more complex is unlocking the Sprint iPhone 4S, and I imagine Verizon and AT&T iPhone 4S buyers may have some similar issues in the near future.

The iPhone 4S is the first of its kind to come with a dual GSM/CDMA Qualcomm chip that turns it into a world phone. That means Sprint customers who travel a lot to countries where carriers rely mostly on GSM technology instead of CDMA will have the option of using a local SIM with the device in order to ditch roaming fees. But that may not happen as soon as you’d expect because Sprint’s locking/unlocking policy is pretty messed up for now:

Sprint’s policy is to have the iPhone 4S SIM locked to our network domestically and internationally. At launch, the International SIM will be unlocked. We do expect a SIM lock to be pushed to the devices shortly after launch. We will then allow existing customers in good standing to unlock the SIM for international use if needed in the future.

Mind-boggling! That’s a quote from an official press release right there, and it’s not helping us understand how the unlocking will work.

So then if the phone comes unlocked at launch then should we expect to see a bunch of handsets instantly shipped to GSM markets where the iPhone 4S will only be released later this year? If you already see an opportunity here to make a quick buck you’ll have to remember first that the same device will be activated on Sprint’s CDMA network. And you may soon find yourself in roaming trouble if your estranged Sprint iPhone 4S unit decides to start roaming overseas:

Sprint offers two international voice plans that customers can subscribe to for discounted voice rates:

* The Canada Roaming add-on is $2.99 per month and all calls placed from Canada are only 20 cents per minute. Without this add-on, calls from Canada are 59 cents per minute.

* The Sprint Worldwide Voice add-on is $4.99 per month and offers discounted rates in countries around the world. For example, calls from Italy are $1.69 per minute with this add-on or $1.99 per minute without the add-on; calls from Peru are $2.29 per minute with the add-on or $2.49 per minute without it.

Sprint does supply notifications of data roaming charges to protect customers from high costs. Notifications are sent to the customer’s preferred method, either text or email, and are sent once the device exceeds approximately $50, $250, $500 and $1,000. To protect the customer from additional charges, the device’s international data roaming capability will be suspended after the customer exceeds approximately $1,000 of international data charges in a billing cycle.

In other words it’s really not clear how Sprint will handle the locking and unlocking of the GSM SIM card of the device, so we’re surely waiting for more instructions. The same thing goes for Verizon, and AT&T too. AT&T’s iPhone 4S will most likely come with a SIM locked on the carrier’s network. But what will happen in case AT&T subscribers want to travel to other GSM markets?

Actual unlocked iPhone units will start selling only in November and they’ll cost you extra too.