How do I remove the pre-installed O2 software from...

Question

I've just taken delivery of a brand new Nokia 6220 Classic from an eBay seller. Although the box, manuals, CD etc are generic/non-network branded, when I switch the phone on, it's full of O2 software, logos, splash screens, etc. (O2 is one of the major networks here in the UK). This all happens despite that fact that I've not yet put a SIM card into the phone.
What I want to do is to reset the phone so that it is identical to one that had never had O2 software installed, so that it is just like a true generic/non-network branded phone that's sold in places like the Carphone Warehouse (a major high-street mobile chain here in the UK).
Does anyone know if it's possible to do this, and if so, how?
The SIM card I'll be using with the phone is a Vodafone Pay As You Go card, although I may be switching to an ASDA Pay As You Go card. ASDA is a large supermarket chain owned by Wal-Mart. Their phone network is a "virtual" one - they don't have any network hardware, they simply offer a rebranded Vodafone service, which is cheaper than Vodafone itself.
Many thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer.
(Please also see my topic in the "PC and Mac Software" section asking which version of PC Suite I need to use to transfer text messages & pictures from my 6610 to my 6220 Classic. Thanks.)
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Answer 1

After some initial forays into getting the firmware changed, I decided in the end that it would be just far too time-consuming, expensive & difficult to seriously consider getting it done, so I ended up selling the phone & buying another one that had generic firmware.
Just to clarify for anyone reading this thread - the box, manuals & CD that came with my original 6220 classic were the generic/non-network branded versions, but the firmware on the phone was the O2 version. This is not the same as the phone being locked to the O2 network.
What does having O2 firmware on a 6220 classic mean in practical terms?
It means that as well as all the standard Nokia menus & features, there are additional O2 ones. The phone in use is effectively dual-brand.
When you start up the phone, you get the Nokia "joining hands" animation, followed by an "O2 Welcome" one. When the phone has finished starting up, the default "theme" on the phone (which is easily changed) is the O2 one - blue gradient wallpaper with bubbles running up & down the left hand edge. The bottom right hand corner of the screen says "O2", meaning that you're supposed to press the top right button on the keypad to access O2-specific features. There's a couple of O2 contacts in the address book, and there's a "Goodbye" O2 animation before the Nokia logo appears when you switch the phone off.
I made several phone calls to both Nokia & O2. The end result of all my fact-finding was that in order to get the firmware changed legally, without invalidating the warranty, I'd have had to persuade O2 to sell me written permission, and a "restriction code", to have the firmware changed - as per the previous replies in this thread. There was no guarantee that they would be prepared to do this. Even if they were prepared to, this would likely have taken many weeks and cost a fortune (3 figures) and even then it might have been difficult to persuade a Nokia dealer to do the actual firmware change.
My final phone call to O2 on this subject was with an African gentleman whose command of English was decidedly dubious, who had never even heard of firmware alterations, who took half an hour to get his head round what I wanted to do, and whose final piece of advice to me, when he couldn't provide the correct O2 phone number for the relevant department, was to try searching for it on Google!
Given all this, I'm sure you can understand that despite me losing a lot of money in the process, I was better off selling the phone & buying another one.
The moral of the story is to check what sort of firmware is on a phone before you buy it, or even better yet, avoid buying mobile phones on eBay in the first place! I actually bought & paid for 5 different phones from eBay in the end before I received the final one that I was reasonably happy with, but that's another long & sad story...