Will AT&T Let You Unlock Your iPhone?

AT&T (NYSE:T), one of the carriers for Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone mobile device, has recently made an announcement that clarifies its position on iPhone unlocking.

On its official blog, AT&T stated that, “if we have the unlock code or can reasonably get it from the manufacturer, AT&T currently will unlock a device for any customer whose account has been active for at least sixty days; whose account is in good standing and has no unpaid balance; and who has fulfilled his or her service agreement commitment.  If the conditions are met we will unlock up to five devices per account per year. We will not unlock devices that have been reported lost or stolen.”

After the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress ruled last October that unlocking cell phones is illegal without carrier permission, a petition to overturn the ban was submitted to Obama’s petitioning website. Since then, several members of Congress have introduced bills to make phone unlocking legal. AT&T’s statement was a reaction to the overwhelming consumer opposition to the phone-unlocking ban.