Soft activation of cellular modems in tablets

1. A method comprising:

providing, to a server, an indication representative of a request to unlock a locked cellular modem at a user equipment, wherein the user equipment comprises the locked cellular modem and a wireless local area network modem unlocked to allow operation via a wireless local area network, wherein the indication represents a payment corresponding to a purchase of the locked cellular modem, wherein the purchase of the locked cellular modem was not included in an initial purchase of the user equipment, and wherein the purchase of the locked cellular modem does not include a data plan purchase for use of the cellular modem;

receiving, at the user equipment, a provisioning message from the server, in response to the indication, wherein the provisioning message includes activation information to enable activating the locked cellular modem, and wherein the activation information includes a first shared secret key; and

activating, at the user equipment, the locked cellular modem when the received first shared secret key matches a second shared secret key stored at the user equipment before the initial purchase.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user equipment comprises a tablet.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless local area network modem comprises a WiFi modem.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the locked cellular modem comprises a cellular modem configured to disable at least one of a registration to a cellular network, an authentication to a cellular network, or an access to a cellular network.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the purchase of the cellular modem comprises a payment to at least one of a mobile wireless carrier, a service provider, a cellular modem manufacturer, a tablet maker, or a payment processor.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication is wirelessly provided by the user equipment to the server, and wherein the activation information is wirelessly received by the user equipment from the server.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication is provided by the user equipment to the server.

8. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:

provide, to a server, an indication representative of a request to unlock a locked cellular modem at the apparatus, wherein the apparatus comprises the locked cellular modem and a wireless local area network modem unlocked to allow operation via a wireless local area network, wherein the indication represents a payment corresponding to a purchase of the locked cellular modem, wherein the purchase of the locked cellular modem was not included in an initial purchase of the apparatus, and wherein the purchase of the locked cellular modem does not include a data plan purchase for use of the cellular modem;

receive, at the apparatus, a provisioning message from the server, in response to the indication, wherein the provisioning message includes activation information to enable activating the locked cellular modem, and wherein the activation information includes a first shared secret key; and

activate, at the apparatus, the locked cellular modem when the received first shared secret key matches a second shared secret key stored at the apparatus before the initial purchase.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the apparatus comprises a tablet.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the wireless local area network modem comprises a WiFi modem.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the locked cellular modem comprises a cellular modem configured to disable at least one of a registration to a cellular network, an authentication to a cellular network, or an access to a cellular network.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the purchase of the cellular modem comprises a payment to at least one of a mobile wireless carrier, a service provider, a cellular modem manufacturer, a tablet maker, or a payment processor.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, perform at least:

providing, to a server, an indication representative of a request to unlock a locked cellular modem at a user equipment, wherein the user equipment comprises the locked cellular modem and a wireless local area network modem unlocked to allow operation via a wireless local area network, wherein the indication represents a payment corresponding to a purchase of the locked cellular modem, wherein the purchase of the locked cellular modem was not included in an initial purchase of the user equipment, and wherein the purchase of the locked cellular modem does not include a data plan purchase for use of the cellular modem;

receiving, at the user equipment, a provisioning message from the server, in response to the indication, wherein the provisioning message includes activation information to enable activating the locked cellular modem, and wherein the activation information includes a first shared secret key; and

activating, at the user equipment, the locked cellular modem when the received first shared secret key matches a second shared secret key stored at the user equipment before the initial purchase.