Verizon asks for an end to its phone unlocking requirements

(Source: Natee Meepian/Alamy Stock Photo)

Verizon is officially asking for a waiver of the FCC's phone unlocking requirements.

"Given the substantial and growing harms to consumers, competition and Verizon from this obligation – and the lack of offsetting benefits – the commission should waive this rule," the operator wrote.

Verizon faces phone unlocking requirements stemming from its acquisition of 700MHz spectrum in 2008, and also from conditions the FCC placed on the operator's acquisition of prepaid provider TracFone in 2021. The requirements mean that when a customer buys a phone from Verizon it's locked to Verizon's network for 60 days, so that they can only use it with a Verizon SIM card. After 60 days, Verizon automatically unlocks the phone, allowing that customer to use their phone on another carrier's network.

Verizon listed several reasons for its waiver request. First, it argued that it loses "hundreds of millions of dollars annually" due to fraudsters and other device traffickers who take advantage of Verizon's 60-day phone unlocking policy. The company also argued that the FCC's unlocking rules are no longer necessary, and that recent Supreme Court rulings prevent the agency from enforcing unlocking requirements anyway.

The FCC's phone 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 Deregulatory Initiative," Verizon added.

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DOGE is an idea spearheaded by Elon Musk, the world's richest person and the chief executive of companies including SpaceX, Tesla and xAI. It is intended to trim excess expenses in US government organizations. One of DOGE's first moves was to shut down USAID.

Why now?

Verizon has criticized the FCC's phone-unlocking requirements before. Last year, the operator charged the FCC with "piecemeal policy making" and "asymmetric regulation" that has resulted in a "haphazard" approach to the process of phone unlocking in the US. Verizon called on the agency to straighten things out.

"Now is the time to undertake a thorough analysis of this issue. The commission should assess the costs and benefits of an unlocking policy, whether it enhances consumer welfare and, if so, whether it should be applied uniformly," Verizon wrote at the time.

Verizon reiterated its position earlier this year as part of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's new "Delete, Delete, Delete" proceeding. That effort is designed to end "all of the rules and regulations that are no longer necessary," according to Carr.

Now, Verizon likely feels empowered to push for eliminating the unlocking requirements because it no longer needs FCC approval for its $20 billion purchase of Frontier Communications. Verizon received that approval earlier this month after the company promised to end most of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. Verizon also said it would make changes to its cell tower construction and management efforts.

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Moreover, the Trump administration broadly has pledged to reduce government red tape, either through DOGE or other avenues.

Verizon's reasoning

According to Verizon, the phone unlocking requirement allows customers to get cheap phones (because of Verizon's subsidies on the gadgets) and then resell them in other markets.

"Even a lock of 60 days does not deter device fraud – a huge and growing problem in the United States – and instead enables trafficking in devices that are illicitly sent to foreign marketplaces," Verizon argued in its latest FCC filing. "This is why the industry standard for providers not subject to the unlocking rule is a minimum of 6 months or longer."

T-Mobile faces a similar unlocking rule as a condition of its purchase of Mint Mobile, but AT&T, Comcast and others do not.

Verizon also argued that the FCC's initial unlocking rule – developed almost two decades ago – is outdated.

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"It is past time for the commission's experiment with the unlocking rule to end, because today's wireless marketplace bears little resemblance to the one that existed when the rule was adopted, and the rule harms consumers, competition and Verizon," Verizon wrote.

Finally, Verizon argued that the Supreme Court's 2024 Loper Bright decision, which overruled the US government's Chevron doctrine, essentially ended the FCC's purview over the matter.

It's unclear how the Trump FCC might react to Verizon's new waiver request.

Last year, under the Biden administration, the FCC's three Democratic commissioners voiced support for a uniform 60-day unlocking requirement across the US wireless industry.

"We propose that all mobile wireless service providers unlock phones 60 days after the device is activated and we seek public comment on doing so. This is simple. This is clear. This is how we build a digital future that works for everyone," said Biden's FCC Chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel, in a 2024 statement.