(Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)Verizon is facing backlash over the carrier’s efforts to keep phones locked, with some consumers pointing out the restriction threatens to block their access to rival T-Mobile’s cellular Starlink service.
“Permanent locks would make it harder for consumers to switch carriers, use dual-SIM features, or take advantage of emerging services like SpaceX’s Starlink Cellular,” one consumer told the US Federal Communications Commission this week.
The consumers have been filing the complaints after Verizon began urging the FCC for a waiver, letting it keep carrier-sold phones locked beyond 60 days. Under its current FCC agreement, Verizon can only lock a phone for 60 days to its network. But the company now claims the restriction isn’t enough to stop fraudsters from buying subsidized Verizon phones only to unlock and resell them.
“Verizon estimates that it lost 784,703 devices to fraud in 2023, costing it hundreds of millions of dollars annually,” the company told the FCC in May while noting other carriers, such as AT&T and T-Mobile, face no such restriction.
Locking the phones means the affected handsets would only work on Verizon’s network. The carrier has suggested it wants to do so for six months or longer. In response, the Commission began soliciting public comment on the proposal, which caused some consumers to submit filings slamming Verizon's effort to enforce phone locking beyond 60 days.
Interestingly, some of the comments cite T-Mobile’s cellular Starlink service as a reason for the FCC to deny Verizon’s waiver. That’s because the T-Mobile satellite service has been designed to work for customers on its own network and for consumers on rival carriers, including Verizon and AT&T.
To do so, T-Mobile has been issuing access to the cellular Starlink service through a secondary eSIM, which can work alongside a phone’s main SIM card. The phone can then switch to Starlink's mobile satellite network once you enter a cellular dead zone. T-Mobile plans on officially launching the T-Satellite service on July 23rd, selling it for $10 per month for most users. However, Verizon’s phone locking push would presumably shut down an affected handset’s ability to access an eSIM from another carrier.
It’s why some consumers have been urging the FCC to deny Verizon’s request for a waiver. “Dual-SIM adds public safety by allowing people to use two networks, including Satellite networks like SpaceX's Starlink on T-Mobile, which will have an a la carte plan soon,” wrote one consumer to the Commission.
The consumers filed dozens of comments to the FCC after some users took to Reddit, urging the public to push back on Verizon’s effort to lock phones beyond 60 days. Even T-Mobile users have been joining in, fearing all carriers might pursue longer phone locking policies if the FCC grants the waiver.
Last year, the Democrat-led FCC began its own push to require all cellular providers “to unlock customers’ mobile phones within 60 days of activation.” But whether the FCC, under new chairman Brendan Carr, will continue pursuing the rule remains unclear, although he voted in support of the initial inquiry.