The iPhone 4S has been touted as a world phone, which basically means you have the ability to swap the SIM card to switch to whichever carrier when you are overseas, and thus even if you are a CDMA network user you will be able to roam abroad on GSM, hence “world phone.”

However apparently when it comes to the good old US of A, apparently the term “world phone” doesn’t mean the same to all iPhone 4S carriers.

According to the guys over at Slash Gear while Verizon is allowing the unlocking on the iPhone 4S to be used as a world phone, those that purchase a Sprint iPhone 4S will be out of luck, as the carrier isn’t unlocking their iPhone 4S for global roaming.

The guys have now received confirmation from Brenda Raney, a spokesperson for Verizon Public Relations, and the confirmation states…

“It is our standard unlock policy for all Global Phones. You have to have been a customer for 60 days and in good standing (meaning your bill is current) and the phone you want to unlock must be on our network at the time of the request. You call Verizon Wireless before you leave the country and we unlock the SIM. We will honor one unlock every 10 months.” – Brenda Raney, Verizon Wireless Public Relations.”

However apparently when it comes to Sprint delivering iPhone 4S unlocking info, the word is Sprint has no intention of revealing the unlock process, the reason apparently is, “no such ability exists.”

According to the guys if you ask a Sprint rep the response will be “roaming internationally on Sprint will only be available with a specific plan chosen from Sprint’s own collection, and no unlocking will be offered at any time in the foreseeable future.”

Thus it appears that if you go with the Sprint iPhone 4S you can safely assume the iOS smartphone won’t be a world phone, does this put you off going with Sprint’s first iPhone?

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