The waivers issued Monday by the FCC mean you’ll have to wait longer to transfer a phone you bought from Verizon to another carrier or pay off the balance on your phone.
The agency says the change to the FCC’s handset unlocking rules, which required Verizon to unlock phones sold after 60 days, is a more uniform approach that eliminates a Verizon-specific rule. Verizon accepted the restriction as a condition of its $9.4 billion purchase of analog TV spectrum in 2007. The policy was then agreed to be extended when the FCC approved the purchase of the prepaid service Track Phone in 2021.
As a result, Verizon’s phone unlocking policy (at least as of Monday afternoon) says it will automatically unlock phones it sells to postpaid or prepaid customers 60 days after purchase “unless the device is believed to be stolen or purchased fraudulently.”
However, in May, Verizon asked to break out of that regulatory box. In a letter to the commission, the company said the 60-day unlock timeline made it easier for fraudsters to fence: “Verizon estimates it will have lost 784,703 devices to fraud in 2023, costing hundreds of millions of dollars annually.”
Critics questioned this logic. Public Knowledge, for example, observed in a letter that carriers with long unlock periods “also report higher rates of device fraud and smuggling.” The Washington-based nonprofit suggested that the real problem is carriers “creating an arbitrage opportunity created by offering expensive devices at steep discounts in exchange for a commitment to service, often without identity verification.”
Individual customers can do this by purchasing a phone from one of Verizon’s prepaid brands at a discounted price so they can transfer it to another carrier after two months. In December, Kansas resident Patrick Roach successfully sued Verizon to exercise that right.
However, the FCC agreed with Verizon in a 16-page order that also cited cooperation letters from law enforcement organizations and the attorneys general of Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Utah and West Virginia.
“We warrant this waiver because it will allow Verizon to crack down on handset fraud, including device theft and handset smuggling, which uniquely affects its business today and will increase significantly following Verizon’s acquisition of the Track Phone in 2021,” the order says.
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Rather than noting the carrier’s commitment to adhere to the Wireless Trade Group CTIA’s Consumer Code for Wireless Service, it does not impose a new unlocking timeline on Verizon.
Unlocking provisions require carriers to unlock phones on postpaid subscriptions once customers pay off the outstanding balance on the purchase of the phone. Unlock phones sold to prepaid customers “no later than one year after initial activation, subject to reasonable time, payment or usage requirements”. Clearly state these rules. Notify users when their phones are eligible for unlocking. And initially unlock the phone to deploy military personnel elsewhere.
Verizon’s two chief competitors differ in their enforcement of the CTIA policy: while both AT&T and T-Mobile require full payment for phones sold to postpaid customers, AT&T will unlock prepaid phones six months after activation while T-Mobile requires prepaid customers to either wait a year or make at least $100 in service refills on a prepaid line.
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As long as your phone is locked, you can not only transfer it to another carrier but also extend your service by adding an ESIM from another service, such as Starlink for roaming in rural areas or for cheaper prepaid data abroad.
As of Monday afternoon, Verizon had not announced details of any new unlocking policy, and a company publicist had not returned an email requesting comment.
Whatever carrier rules look like on phones, you can avoid them by buying an unlocked phone—even a new high-end model like the iPhone 17 or Pixel 10—directly from a manufacturer or retailer, and usually a carrier tout with similar interest installment plan payment options.
The FCC order notes that the commission may later set industry-wide rules for unlocking phones. It launched an effort along those lines in 2024, when then-chair Jessica Rosenorsel proposed subjecting all carriers to a 60-day unlocking rule. It seems safe to predict that under the FCC’s current administration, whatever rules emerge will bear little resemblance to this proposal.
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