FCC proposes ending cellphone carrier locks after 60 days

is that some american problem i'm too euro to understand? we got rid of this anticompetitive shit in early 10s

OK, now ban bootloader locking next.

"Verizon agrees that the FCC should consider the merits and trade-offs of handset unlocking requirements," Verizon spokesperson Rich Young told The Register, though that support is conditional.

Screw verizon with an acid covered cactus. What possible "merits" are there to locking a device down for anyone but the companies selling the phones? Rich Young can go kick rocks.

I will not buy a phone through a carrier, I will not buy a phone with a locked bootloader. Period.

I am done with anticonsumer bullshit.

Don’t worry. With SCOTUS overturning Chevron this won’t stick. /s (in case it’s not obvious)

Thank fucking God. It never should have been a thing ever.

I had no idea this was even still a thing I don't understand how it's legal

We'll see how this fares in the face of Chevron being rescinded. Will they even recognize FCC authority to do this?

Pretty sure all new rules like this must be made my congress now...

Hoo boy we are fucked.

Too bad SCOTUS just ruled that US government regulatory agencies are essentially meaningless a day or two ago

Just stop buying phones from carriers and you never have to worry about this. If you like a phone, buy it unlocked straight from the manufacturer and do whatever you want with it. Most offer payment plans, and if not you can always use klarna or a credit card with no interest to make payments on it.

If there is money to be lost in it, dont bet on it getting lit

As soon as T-Mobile's check clears, the conservative SCOTUS will make sure all phones remain locked for eternity. Praise Jesus!

Simlocks have completely vanished from the market at least here in Germany, mostly because carriers don't care if you use your subsidised bonus phone with a different card -- you're still locked into a contract with two years or such minimum duration. Even those contracts have gotten rare though I think most people right-out own their phones and then make a separate contract.

As much as I to be optimistic, I doubt this will pass. So long as Wall Street is still a thing don't expect any sort of regulations. Continue to buy second-hand, OEM unlocked phones on eBay.

This explains why I got a text from my carrier saying all phones now come unlocked. Guess they're preparing ahead of time. Mine was already unlocked, but still.

If we're talking "free" devices with some commitment, I'm OK with some limitation until the terms are met.

The second you charge a dollar for it, it should be unconditionally illegal to have it carrier locked the day they walk out of the store. 60 days isn't good enough.

Fat chance.

Fuck telecos... Parasites

If I recall correctly, Canada got rid of carrier lock-in several years ago

Didnt even know carrier locking is still a thing. I think thats long illegal here in the EU

How about no lock in from the get go?

About damn time.

So everyone knows… the new Apple Card lets you do 0% financing on the iPhone. (You also get 3% cash back for buying from the Apple Store.)

So you can buy an unlocked iPhone and pay for it in installments.

Now there is no need to buy from the carriers, have a locked phone, or pay full price up front.

Source: Me, paying ~$68/month for the unlocked iPhone 15 Pro. Also, I do a carrier’s prepaid plan because I’ve been bested by contracts before.

This would be of limited use for many people. Carriers lock people in by selling lots of phones that are missing frequency bands and cannot be used on their competitor's networks. For instance, many of TMO's phones cannot be used on AT&T and Verizon's networks. My Oneplus 9Pro is a great phone, but if I wanted to switch to Spectrum (on Verizon's network) or AT&T I would be forced to buy a new phone.

Some phones like the Iphone and Pixels are compatible with every U.S. network, but plenty of others are not.

I don't really have a problem with this -- I think that it's rarely in a consumer's interest to choose a locked phone. Buying a locked phone basically means that you're getting a loan to pay for hardware that you pay back with a higher service price. But I'd point out that:

• You can get unlocked phones and service now. I do. There are some privacy benefits to doing so -- my cell provider doesn't know who I am (though they could maybe infer it from usage patterns of their network and statistical analysis). It's not a lack of unlocked service that's at issue. To do this, Congress is basically arguing that the American consumer is just making a bad decision to purchase a plan-combined-with-a-locked-phone and forcing them not to do so.

• Consumers will pay more for cell phones up front. That's not necessarily a bad thing -- it maybe makes the carrier market more competitive to not have a large portion of consumers locked to one provider. But there are also some benefits to having the carrier selecting cell phones that they offer in that the provider is probably in a better position to evaluate what phone manufacturers have on offer in terms of things like failure rates than do consumers.

It would help with e-waste too.