Verizon asks for an end to its phone unlocking requirements

Verizon is officially asking for a waiver of the Federal Communications Commission's phone unlocking requirements. Verizon faces phone unlocking requirements stemming from its acquisition of 700MHz spectrum in 2008, and also from conditions the FCC placed on the operator's acquisition of prepaid provider TracFone in 2021. The requirements mean that when a customer buys a phone from Verizon it's locked to Verizon's network for 60 days, so that they can only use it with a Verizon SIM card. After 60 days, Verizon automatically unlocks the phone, allowing that customer to use their phone on another carrier's network. Verizon listed several reasons for its waiver request. First, it argued that it loses "hundreds of millions of dollars annually" due to fraudsters and other device traffickers who take advantage of Verizon's 60-day phone unlocking policy. The company also argued that the FCC's unlocking rules are no longer necessary, and that recent Supreme Court rulings prevent the agency from enforcing unlocking requirements anyway. The FCC's phone unlocking rule 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 added.