Verizon wants the FCC to allow it to renege on a pro-consumer promise it made to the agency

maio 23, 2025

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In September 2020, Verizon offered to buy what was then the largest MVNO in the States, Tracfone, for more than $6 billion. To get the deal approved by the FCC, Verizon agreed that once it took control of Tracfone, it would change Tracfone’s phone unlocking policy to match Verizon‘s. The latter had a 60-day unlocking policy that then-FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wanted Verizon to apply to Tracfone’s phones. After all, Tracfone’s policy at the time was to unlock handsets only after these devices had been activated for 12 months.

Rosenworcel, who then served as Chairwoman of the FCC at the behest of President Joe Biden, wanted all carriers to unlock their customers’ phones 60 days after activation. “You bought your phone, you should be able to take it to any provider you want,” Rosenworcel said adding that such a change would be “in the best interest of consumers and competition.” Last year when President Biden was in office, the FCC unsuccessfully proposed a rule that would force all wireless providers to unlock phones after 60 days. That would have forced AT&T and T-Mobile to be on the same page as Verizon.

This change in policy seems unlikely now that Republican Brendan Carr is FCC Chair and the focus is on eliminating regulations in the industry favoring the wireless companies over their customers. Knowing this, Verizon feels like it can use this change to its advantage. This week, Verizon made a formal request to the FCC asking to have the unlocking rule waived “until such time as the Commission decides on an appropriate industry-wide approach for the unlocking of wireless devices.”

Former FCC Chairwoman under Biden, Jessica Rosenworcel.

FCC Chairwoman under Biden, Jessica Rosenworcel wanted all wireless providers to unlock phones no longer than 60 days after activation. | Image credit-FCC

Trying to prove its point, Verizon said that unlocking phones leads to theft and is bad for customers. Some might say that Verizon is gaslighting its own customers by trying to get them to believe that they would be better off waiting a longer period of time to have their phones unlocked when the truth is that the longer their phone is locked to Verizon, the longer they are unable to switch wireless providers.

“The Unlocking Rule applies only to particular providers—mainly Verizon—and distorts the marketplace in a critical US industry. The rule has resulted in unintended consequences that harm consumers, competition, and Verizon, while propping up international criminal organizations that profit from fraud, including device trafficking of subsidized devices from the United States. These bad actors target and harm American consumers and US carriers like Verizon for their own profit, by diverting unlocked trafficked devices to consumers in foreign countries.”

–Verizon

Verizon also complained that after it bought TracFone, there was “a sharp increase in the number of TracFone devices that deactivated before making enough payments for Verizon to recover the subsidy on the device.” To make it clear what side it is on, Verizon said that the unlocking rule is “the perfect example of the type of rule that the Commission should eliminate as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) Deregulatory Initiative.” Hey, Verizon isn’t called “Big Red” for nothing.

Verizon says forcing it to unlock phones 60 days after activation is not enough to combat fraud. Instead, it argues that allowing phones to be unlocked after 60 days enables trafficking in phones that are unlocked and are sent illegally to foreign markets. “This is why the industry standard for providers not subject to the Unlocking Rule is a minimum of 6 months or longer,” Verizon said.