[drunkenmaster]

My Nokia 6600 has has suffered a poseidon adventure, left it in my jeans and it went in the washing machine

So time to get a new phone (too much hassle methinks)

Any way to get to the point. I am travelling from the Uk to India in six weeks or so and knowing that using a their own sims is very cheap, are there any phones that do not need to be reprogrammed in any way for me to just change the chip without any reprogramming malarky. BTW the phone will be on contract so advice on network providers would help if possible.
Thanks

[chrislad]

Practically every phone needs to be unlocked before another SIM can be used. If you're on a contract, the company should unlock you after 12 months with the number. Nokia's are pretty easy to unlock though, and unlocking has no effect on your contract or anything like that. I wouldn't call it reprogramming either. All you do is enter a code like #pw+12345678910+1# and away you go.

Also for coverage in India, check out www.gsmworld.com

[Uridium]

Or buy a Sim free handset, as the name suggests they can be used on any network

[conington]

I've got to say that it has been a long time since I have had a handset that has been locked, I buy on contract from Carphone Warehouse, Link and O2 and have had contracts on O2 and Vodaphone none of the handsets I have had over the past couple of years have been locked despite them being on a contract.