Patent ID: 8892083

Claim:
A method of locking and branding a generic mobile communication device to a carrier network, comprising: detecting insertion in the device of a subscriber or user identification module specifying a selection of a carrier network to which the mobile communication device is to be wirelessly connected; receiving, via a user interface of the device, input of a request to lock and brand the device to the selected carrier network; issuing, from the device, the request to lock and brand the device to the selected carrier network; allowing a provisioning system to verify whether the device is suitable for connection to the selected carrier network before receiving a customized configuration file; installing, based on the allowing, an updated operating system (OS) version prior to receiving the customized configuration file; receiving, in response to the request, the customized configuration file for the selected carrier network, the customized configuration file containing a device locking command, and one or more branding commands configured to cause download and display of at least an image to brand the device to the selected carrier network; executing the device locking command to lock the device to the selected carrier network; and executing the one or more branding commands to brand the device to the selected carrier network with one or more customized features specific to the selected carrier network.