So I'm still unclear if I need to make sure that my phone is unlocked before I begin the porting process since I still want to use the same phone with T-Mobile. If I attempt to port a phone that is currently locked on contract, will that prevent me from using the phone on the new carrier? Or does porting a number also take care of the locked status? (I assume not unless the ETF fees are fully paid. Our contract for the iPhone 6S still has about 6 months remaining of the 2 year contract with AT&T. The two other lines that we are porting over have phones that are unlocked.)
I just want to make sure that the phone number that we are porting over is not unusable while we wait for the locked status to clear. (Without getting a new phone of course.)
The phone number goes with the SIM.
The lock on the phone determines what carrier SIM you can use.
So you can port a number to T-Mobile and that number will then "live" on the TMO SIM. If your ATT phones are still locked to ATT, you can't use the TMO SIM in them, but you can use that TMO SIM in any unlocked phone with your number.
The "lock" status only talks about the carrier the phone hardware is limited to using.
The phone number is not "locked" to the carrier.
If you want to use your ATT phones on TMO, you will need to ensure that they are unlocked, however that can be done before or after you port, as it is not tied to the porting process in any way.
Does that make sense?
_/¯
