>>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09/26/travel_much_dont_buy_a_samsung_galaxy_note_3/
>
>They pulled the same crap with the Note 2 (which I have). There are ways to unlock it though (which I have).
>
>This type of crap really pisses me off. Why have an unlocked, tri-band phone that wont work when you travel? Stuuuuuupid!
>
>Now it's my understanding that this isn't as bad as it seems, you just have to put in a proper region SIM THE FIRST time you use the phone - then after that it will work on other regions. - so the trick would appear not to start with an out-of-region SIM.

That's not how I read this e.g. http://gigaom.com/2013/09/26/seriously-samsung-sorry-european-roamers-but-the-new-galaxy-note-3-is-region-locked/

Aren't region-locking and carrier-locking different things?