New Phone Locked to 02

[BatmanDan]

If I upgrade my phone, will the new phone I order be locked to 02 before inserting a Sim?

Can I use my current Sim in my “old” phone with the updated tariff and Gift the phone to my partner who is on a different network and both still work, or will the new phone be locked to 02 straight away? 

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

@BatmanDan 

O2 do not lock phones.

Do with it whatever you wish.

[Oxonian]

@BatmanDan 

Mobile network operators no longer "lock" handsets :-

Mobile companies now banned from selling locked handsets - Ofcom

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/news-centre/2021/mobile-companies-now-banned-from-selling-locked-handsets

As older handsets cease to work, it will over time become more and more unusual to encounter a locked handset. 

[MI5]

O2 stopped in April 2018