Can an Iphone 5 with blocked IMEI be used in other countries?

Basically my brother has an iphone 5 for 4 months on billpay, but got a crazy high bill so didn't pay it and now no service. So phone blocked in Ireland I'm guessing. What I'm asking really is, if he sold it on ebay to someone in another country would the phone work for them as he doesn't want to burn anybody except the damn phone company

Cheers

Added (1). He's moving to Oz pretty soon so doesn't care about the phone company chasing him, and besides if a debt is less than 500 bucks its actually not even worth there while chasing it as wouldn't be cost effective, well cheers for the reply, at least he knows if he sells it on ebay the other person won't be buying a brick

He's only going to burn himself, as the company will keep pursuing repayment of what he owes until the debt is settled. He's also going to find it incredibly difficult to pass credit checks for anything for many years to come unless he sorts the matter out As soon as possible.

But if he wants to sell it to raise funds towards that aim, then yes, a blocked handset can work in other countries. It won't work in the UK though, and many Irish/UK carriers are either worldwide brands or have very close ties to foreign networks: it's increasingly common to find that a blocked handset will also be blocked in many other countries.

There are many places which will unblock handsets by giving them a new IMEI number; it's definitely illegal in both Ireland and the UK for anyone other than the manufacturer or authorised servicing agents to do that, but that doesn't stop it happening. There are also many countries worldwide where such actions are not specifically illegal.

Note that if your brother has been told that the phone is to be repossessed then it's no longer his property to sell, and he could therefore be charged with theft if he fails to return it to the network operator. The bills may be high, but that's what he signed up for and should have checked the deal before committing himself.