I see a lot of threads about "unlocking"... and how one can go about obtaining an unlock. I see people charging for it. I haven't found a single thread that explains what it actually is and why someone would want it.

Help a noob out, what does an "unlock" do for you?

When your phone is sold it is locked to your carrier. Meaning you cannot use it on another carriers network. When you are unlocked you can use it on other carriers. Your device is GSM, so if you unlocked it you could use it on T-Mobile for example. Does that help?

E-

The reason one would want to unlock their GSM device is so that they can use the device with a different GSM provider.

Again, this is for GSM devices only. You cannot "unlock" CDMA devices.

EDIT: Beaten to the punch.

GSM vs CDMA.

dunno what these acronyms mean.

GSM - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

CDMA2000 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

at&t is a GSM provider.