The FCC wants to require carriers to unlock customers’ mobile phones within 60 days of activation. In a 5-0 vote on Thursday, Commissioners said expanded unlocking requirements would establish a clear and uniform set of requirements for all mobile service providers.
They also said the change would increase competition among providers and make it easier for consumers to switch carriers as long as the consumer’s phone is compatible with the new telecom’s wireless network.
FCC officials said service providers like the devices to ensure the phones remain active only in their networks, especially when provider discounts are subsidizing the phone, in exchange for service contracts that cover a certain period of time or amount of use.
There’s “currently a patchwork of requirements that are out there when it comes to unlocking handsets,” said FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr. “Some carriers are required to unlock as part of the transaction specific requirement. Others have unlocking obligations that flow from a specific spectrum band or license they have obtained. And others have none.”
Carr appreciated the additions on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking public comment on handset tracking, trafficking issues and fraud.
“This lack of consistency across carriers means that some consumers can unlock their phones with relative ease, while others face significant barriers,” said FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. “It also means certain carriers are subject to mandatory unlocking requirements while others are free to dictate their own.”
Starks said the “asymmetry” is bad for both consumers and competition. “By proposing a uniform 60-day unlocking policy we are leveling the playing field for competition, empowering consumers.”
“The law made clear that consumers were not doing anything illegal when they use their old phone to sign up for service with the new provider,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in summing up the changes. “This was good for consumers and competition. But sweeping out the dusty remnants of copyright law was not enough. Because despite the efforts of Congress to address unlocking in this law, the efforts of the FCC to reinforce it in spectrum options and transactions and the restrictions on consumers unlocking their phones have persisted.”
She emphasized: “It is time to end them once and for all. You bought your phone. You should be able to take it to any provider you want.”
Specifically, the NPRM will seek comments on requiring all mobile service providers to unlock mobile phones 60 days after the device is activated with the provider. The Commission wants to know what the public thinks about whether an unlocking requirement should be applied to existing service contracts or future contracts.
It also seeks comment on the impact of a 60-day unlocking requirement in connection with service providers’ incentives to offer discounted phones for postpaid and prepaid service plans, as well as whether an unlocking requirement would benefit smaller providers, new entrants, and resellers by increasing the number of phones available on the secondary market.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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