O2 and Three are the two European carriers whose UK unlock is free by regulation and whose continental records are among the cheapest to release. The complication is Ireland: Three Ireland and O2 Ireland are separate records from the UK ones, and the Irish carriers work to Irish consumer rules.
The activation policy is held against the IMEI by the national entity. Three UK and Three Ireland are different records despite the shared brand.
iPhones receive no code; the policy is changed.
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.
UK: free on request since 17 December 2021 (Ofcom). Ireland: ComReg has required free unlocking on request since 2015. Germany: paid release on request. Everywhere: paid off, not reported, account holder request.
Cancelled contracts with a balance are the usual refusal.
The current wording is always on the carrier’s page: Ofcom — handset unlocking rules.
Where the carrier will not deal with a second-hand buyer, the IMEI can be released directly. The tiers are split by market — UK, Ireland and Germany are separate records.
| Service | Price | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| UK Tesco | O2 - Unlock Code NCK - Samsung, SONY & Generic「Test」 | $5 | Samsung · O2 · United Kingdom |
| UK O2 | Tesco Clean Unlock - iPhone & Generic | $6 | Apple · O2 · United Kingdom |
| Germany T-Mobile | O2 Unlock - All iPhones | $7 | T-Mobile · Germany |
| Ireland Three | Hutchison | O2 premium Unlock - iPhone 4-17 series | $7 | Apple · O2 · Ireland |
| Sweden Three | Hutchison Unlock Clean 80% Success Rate - All iPhones | $8 | Three · Sweden |
| Sweden Three | Hutchison Unlock Clean 99% Success Rate - All iPhones | $51 | Three · Sweden |
| Ireland Three | Hutchison | O2 Unlock - iPhone 17 Series | $60 | Apple · O2 · Ireland |
| Austria Three | Hutchison | Drei Unlock - All iPhones | $99 | Three · Austria |
8 services in this guide. Prices are live; sign in for volume pricing.
Yes, by Ofcom rule.
No — separate Irish record.
They run on O2's network but have their own MVNO records.
Yes.
Only on a balance-absorbing tier.
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.