There have always been a unlocked phones. But, in many cases these phones did not even have data ports, just the built in connection to a walled garden unless you physically opened them.
PS: I was writing phone software 2004-2006 so really walled gardens where a thing. People would even gasp pay for ring tones.
PS: I was writing phone software 2004-2006 so really walled gardens where a thing. People would even gasp pay for ring tones.