Outside Claro and Telcel, Latin America is a patchwork of national carriers: Entel and WOM in Chile, Movistar and Bitel in Peru, Claro and Tigo in Colombia, Personal in Argentina, Vivo and TIM in Brazil. Each keeps its own unlock record, and several regulators (SUBTEL in Chile, the SIC in Colombia) require the carrier to unlock on request for the account holder.
The activation policy is held against the IMEI by the national carrier. A Chilean Entel phone and a Peruvian Entel phone are different records.
Regional resale is heavy, so a device bought in one country is often locked to a carrier the new owner has never had an account with.
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.
Chile's SUBTEL and Colombia's SIC require carriers to unlock devices on request for the account holder; elsewhere it is commercial policy. In all cases: device paid off, not reported, account in good standing.
There is no regional desk — each national carrier handles its own records.
The current wording is always on the carrier’s page: SUBTEL (Chile) — user rights.
Where the carrier will not talk to you — the normal case for a second-hand import — the IMEI has to be released from the supply side. Order the tier that matches the carrier and country, not the one that matches the phone's model.
| Service | Price | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| eSIM QR Code Dummy eSIM - iPhone | $1.70 | Apple |
| Samsung Chile Unlock Code NCK + MCK - up to S25 Series | $16 | Samsung · Chile |
| US AT&T We can't locate it in our database Unlock Clean Only - iPhone | $25 | Apple · AT&T · United States |
| Chile Entel Unlock Unlock - All iPhones | $43 | Entel · Chile |
4 services in this guide. Prices are live; sign in for volume pricing.
A carrier check by IMEI — Entel, Movistar and WOM are distinct records.
SUBTEL requires carriers to unlock on request for the account holder.
Yes, against the Peruvian record.
Yes.
Vivo and TIM run their own records; check the carrier first.
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.