Possible that itunes will not update iphone OS while overseas?

Question

hi, im in australia, and i was thinking about getting the iphone 3gs through the local australian network carrier here, however, a friend of mine said that whenever he returns to his home country with the contract phone that he obtained under a plan with yes optus (australian network carrier) he told me that it is not possible to update the phone or download any apps through the local itunes store in his home country. to confirm this rumour, i head down to a 3 (another australian network carrier) retail store to enquire about the plan while at the same time asking about the rumour, a sales person said that it might be possible that itunes will not update an australian phone with an non australian IP address...is this true? because purchasing an iphone and not being able to update it while i too return to my home country would render the phone quite pointless. could someone please get back to me and confirm if this is true and if there is any possible solutions without hacking the phone? ohh and by the way, the network carriers do legally unlock the phones for their customer when anyone needs to go overseas

Answer 1

If your phone is locked to the Australian network, then you can only roam in Malaysia. If it's unlocked, you can get a SIM card from a Malaysian provider.
iTunes, however, is country specific. You cannot access Australian iTunes from another country. For example, I'm in the US, and I can't access iTunes from other countries.
If your phone is unlocked, and you have a local SIM card, you should be able to access your local version of iTunes. No problem.