Boost Mobile moved to Dish's own network, and the unlock rule moved with it: most Boost devices need a year of active paid service on Dish before the carrier will release them. That single requirement makes Boost the most common "locked for years" device in the US after Cricket — and the reason a second-hand Boost phone is usually still locked.
The activation policy is held against the IMEI and released by Dish. Nothing is typed into the phone; the record changes.
Because Boost sells aggressively at retail and through prepaid channels, a large share of devices are sold, used for weeks, then resold — nowhere near the twelve-month mark.
The phone is not damaged and it is not stolen by default: the manufacturer holds an activation policy against the IMEI that names the carrier the device may activate on. Until that record changes, every other SIM is refused at activation — Wi-Fi keeps working, which is why a locked handset can look perfectly healthy in a shop.
Dish's Boost policy requires the device to be paid off and to have completed twelve months of active paid service on the Boost network, with the account in good standing and the IMEI not reported. Requests come from the account holder.
Devices migrated from the old Sprint-era Boost follow the same rule under Dish.
The current wording is always on the carrier’s page: Boost Mobile support.
The tiers below exist because most Boost devices you will meet in resale are nowhere near the twelve-month mark. They submit the IMEI for a supply-side release and are refunded if Dish refuses.
| Service | Price | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Carrier+GSMA Blacklist Check - Dish Boost | Reseller Flex | Bell etc. | $0.04 | Apple · Bell |
| US Dish Boost Motorola Unlock Code NCK Premium - No Refund/Verification | $15 | Motorola · United States |
| US Dish Boost Clean Unlock - iPhone 4-15 Series「Active on Dish at Least 1 Year」 | $60 | Apple · United States |
| US Dish Boost Clean Unlock - iPhone 16-17 Series「Active on Dish at Least 1 Year」 | $63 | Apple · United States |
4 services in this guide. Prices are live; sign in for volume pricing.
Twelve months of active paid service at the time of writing.
Not through Boost. The paid tier works from the IMEI.
No — Boost is Dish's network now, with legacy records still on the books.
Yes.
No unlock restores service.
Last checked 2026-10-28. Carrier rules are summarised from the operators’ own pages; where a rule has changed since, the operator’s page wins.