The FCC wants to make it significantly easier for consumers to unlock their phones from their carriers, proposing that all devices must be unlockable

FCC rule would make carriers unlock all phones after 60 days

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2024-06-27 20:30:02

The FCC wants to make it significantly easier for consumers to unlock their phones from their carriers, proposing that all devices must be unlockable just 60 days after purchase. How this will mesh with current plans and phone-buying trends, however, is something the agency is hoping to learn before putting such a rule into effect.

Mobile phones purchased from a carrier are generally locked to that carrier until either the contract is up or the phone is paid off. But despite improvements to the process over the years (unlocking was flat-out illegal not long ago), it still isn’t quite clear to all consumers when and how they can unlock their phone and take it to the carrier (or country) of their choice.

To be clear, this is not about opening up your phone using a face, fingerprint or password, but changing settings in its software to allow it to work with different mobile networks.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, or NPRM, in a press release Thursday. “When you buy a phone, you should have the freedom to decide when to change service to the carrier you want and not have the device you own stuck by practices that prevent you from making that choice,” she wrote. “That is why we are proposing clear, nationwide mobile phone unlocking rules.”