Verizon Asks FCC to Lift Handset Unlocking Requirement
Verizon, which last year urged the FCC to impose broadband handset unlocking rules on wireless carriers, is now asking the commission to zero out the unlocking commitment it adopted as a condition of approving the company’s purchase of Tracfone.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The mandate 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 said in a filing posted Tuesday. FCC commissioners unanimously approved an NPRM on handset unlocking in July (see 2407180037).
Verizon’s request for a broad requirement was tied to regulatory parity. “The goal should be reaching an industrywide solution to this issue rather than continue with an increasingly fragmented and unbalanced approach to regulation,” a spokesperson said last year (see 2406250049).
“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,” Verizon said this week. “The Unlocking Rule applies only to particular providers -- mainly Verizon -- and distorts the marketplace in a critical U.S. industry.”
The requirement has led to “unintended consequences,” the carrier said. “Recent industry experience shows that 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.”
Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, said in an email that “Verizon has completely reversed its position on this issue.” A year ago, “Verizon joined consumer groups, EchoStar and cable companies competing in the mobile market to support the FCC’s proposal to adopt a uniform, industrywide unlocking rule.”
Verizon’s claims about fraud “are grossly exaggerated,” Calabrese added. “Canada and the United Kingdom have required unlocking at point of sale, to facilitate consumer choice, and they have reported no surge in theft and fraud.”