Question about Moto RAZR w/sim card for Verizon

[Antigone]

Okay, so my friend moved to Arizona from Oregon, where he had regular Verizon service, not pre-paid. He disconnected the service and brought his phone with him-it's a flat/matte black Motorola RAZR with a Sim card. When you remove the sim card from the phone, it says "No service, insert sim card..." I didn't think post-paid Verizon accounts in the states used a sim card. So now I'm wondering if the phone can be used on another non-sim network, such as Cricket, if I have it flashed or something? He still has the sim card, but I don't know if the phone will be compatible on a non-sim network. Does anybody else know? I really wanted to buy his phone from him, but I'm worried now...

 

[Carmon355]

DONT BUY IT! No offense to your buddy, but like you said verizon prepaid or postpaid does not use the sim cards in the states (unless he got some kind of world capable one). Now if you have a sim based phone and move your sim into his phone and it works? But make sure to do a proper switch to the sim card that comes with the phone.

In the usa most phones are tied to a carrier and to move to a different one you have to "unlock" it. No clue how to do that. You can buy unlocked phones, but these do not state a carrier on the front.