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Decreto-lei 56/2010
Unblocking cellphones is free!
From this week onwards, it will be much easier and cheaper to “unblock” a mobile phone due to a new law which obliges telecommunications operators to provide this service free of charge at the end of people’s contracts.
Edition 642 ( 2 Sep 2010), 
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The “Decreto-lei 56/2010”, published on 1st June, prohibits cellphone operators from charging for unblocking phones at the end of client contracts – the sort that bind clients to one operator.
The new rules also set limits for charges for ending a contract, or asking for a phone to be unblocked during such period.
Previously, contracts were all set for 24 months, and it was prohibited to charge more than 100 per cent of the cost of equipment in the first six months of the contract, deducted from the values already paid by the client.
According to the «Diário Económico», Portuguese cellphone users are talking more over their phones, but the money paid by each client is falling across the board for all operators.
This fall in profits is due to the fact that many consumers use phone cards, or tariffs directed at the younger sector due to the country’s ongoing financial difficulties.
