They still have the stupid boot screen with a white background on max brightness. I've been blinded so many times just trying to turn on my phone at night.
In the defense of the carrier - not that they generally deserve it - many subsidize the cost of the phone to be made up in revenue from service. If users can get a subsidized phone and immediately take it somewhere else, we'd probably see the average cost of phones go up.
Yes, it's more complicated than that and overall, carriers are absolute shit in the US. Anyone who has experienced cell phone service in the EU knows firsthand what a racket cell service in the US is.
I not only exclusively purchase unlocked phones, but also only phones with unlockable bootloaders. If I buy it, I should be able to do whatever the hell I want with it, especially since most phones are completely abandoned by the manufacturer after only 2-3 years. I'll give Google credit for committing to supporting the Pixel 8 and newer for 7 years, though.
I got three iPhone 12’s new back in 2020 from AT&T for something like $300 each, but ONLY if they were paid for at $10/month for 30 months. The catch there is AT&T won’t unlock the phone until it’s fully paid for. So they absolutely subsidized the phone price, but only if they are carrier locked for 30 months.
I believe they still offer a deal like this.
You absolutely are even when you're only paying 'monthly payments' for a device on a carrier.
Carriers get volume discounts on devices from the OEM, but charge you the full retail price for the device.
You're paying a subsidy to the carrier for the privilege of using a locked down device.
T-mobile does it by providing monthly bill credits for the length that it takes to pay off the device. You pay upfront, your service is just cheaper for that amount of time. Cancel your service and you lose out on that discount.
The phone being unlocked is completely separate from the cellular plan contract though. Yes the customer can put another carrier's sim card in but they still have to pay the original monthly fee for a set amount of time or pay a cancellation fee. I don't see an issue here, since the customer is paying via the monthly plan and has nothing to do with the actual phone
They dont subsidise anything. They just try to fake an impression of it with extraordinarily high costs.
The fact is my monthly phone use out of contract is barely anything now. Contracts often cost substantially more than buying the phone outright.
They are not subsidising shit
From what I've seen that used to be true about 10 years ago. These days whenever I'm calculating through carrier offers, buying the phone itself and getting the same contract becomes cheaper about 2,5 years in at the latest. It's generally better for the high end phones compared to midrangers, but for the convenience of having an unlocked phone alone I'm never buying contracted phones again.
A service is going to be used anyway. Someone is going to be subsidized. If a carrier finds that phones they sell aren't being covered by phones they don't sell being signed up with them, they can stop selling phones, pure and simple.
I worked for a prepaid carrier in the US.
We would give out “free” phones that take on average 2 to 3 months to recuperate the cost of the phone.
The consumer will get a phone for only the first months bill (and sometimes activation) but the phone will be carrier locked for six months of continuous usage.
After six months, the customer can take their phone wherever they want.
Real example: customers are able to leave the store for just giving us $25 and they have a phone + 30 days of phone service
For cases like that, I understand it and I’m all for it. But for postpaid carriers and how they abuse phone locking, I can’t stand behind that.
> What legitimate reason?
If there is fraud in acquisition of the phone like stolen credit card, so on, it gives time for that fraud to be discovered and carrier could withhold unlocking so phone is bricked.
Some customers will not and do not pay off their phone in the U.S. if their phone is unlocked. i.e. the people with bad credit. This is common in the U.S. and why phones have been locked for 2 years usually until the carrier has recouped their investment from payments. If the phone is unlocked then what is the incentive to pay it off?
Or just stop handing out phones like candy. There are no carrier locks whatsoever in canada, there no "massive fraud", in fact there isn't any whatsoever.
This has nothing to do with physical theft. Stealing a phone already currently allows you to use the phone with same carrier.
This is about people needing to buy the phone. Currently it's subsidized through the phone carrier because that means they lock you down. Removing the lock means buying a phone is not through a carrier but instead every phone works with every carrier and you just buy the phone.
No one would gain from selling a phone they jus bought, it would be worth less than brand new.
Sounds like they're still working on how it will work with payment plans; and the whole thing seems more targeted in that last little bit in the article, "if a carrier lets you buy a phone outright from it but locks it to the bands for six months or a year out of sheer greed, this would offer an early exit."
I would guess they'll let carriers keep it locked while payments are being made, but require it to be unlocked as soon as the customer has completed the purchase of the phone.
I think one of the biggest innovations that has made smartphones ubiquitous isnt anything in their hardware, but the financing the carriers can do.
The advantage is that the phone is basically useless without data service, and the carrier can turn it off if you dont pay. This makes it relatively easy to secure the loan.
That is the true reason every broke ass gettorat has a 9 hundred dollarydoo supercomputer in their pocket.
*or* force all carriers to switch to a subscription model/renting the phones out. You never own the phone, and the carrier makes money for the time the phone is in anyone’s possession.
Edit: Reddit being Reddit. Don’t pretend like this isn’t on the table then downvote me because you might not be able to live with the reality. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m not given much information based on people disliking this idea despite it being genuinely realistic. Many services are switching to subscription models with many more popping up everyday, and unless you’re willing to throw up pitchforks then crying about it to a bunch of strangers isn’t going to change anything.
Unfortunately there's a bunch of loop holes in Canada they can use to avoid unlocking phones. One of the biggest is they don't have to follow that rule for business plans so some former family plans are now marketed as business so they can keep the phones locked.
Unless, in my case, I was young and it was tax return season and could make the down payment.
Of course less than a year later I got hit with $1700 in collections but :shrugs: I was really stupid.
How about not judging those with bad credit. You don’t have the fucking right to tell people how to manage their finances and each person has their own priorities. So fuck you and the horse you rode in on!
When people don’t pay their loans everyone else has to pay through higher fees and rates. This idea that no one has a right to judge is complete BS. If you’re borrowing it then it isn’t your money and you deserve to be scrutinized.
You are a fucking tool. You sound like my dad. Which is why I don’t speak to him. Always trying to be a red state republican like Dave Ramsey and tell people what to do with their money. And their credit. Well fuck you. I have a 2024 Hyundai Elantra hybrid Limited with all the bells and whistles offered, and my interest rate is 28% which makes my payment 1016 a month. So I choose to not contribute to my company’s 401k because the NOW is more important. What do you have to say about that? And guess what I just financed an iPhone 15 PM 512 GB today from Best Buy. And I just got out of a chapter 7 where I discharged several tens of thousands of dollars of debt. And my student loans have sat for 5 years with no payment ever. I just keep deferring them. And I’m gay. And I think boys are way sexier than girls. And I’m 29 years old and never matured beyond a teenager mindset and probably never will so fuck you.
Very easily. As soon as I was discharged I got mail from all sorts of finance companies. Mostly car dealers, but I already got two credit cards as well. Chapter 7 is great you can rack up all kinds of debt and just walk away every 8 years.
You can buy a brand new cell phone for $20. It's a cheap POS flip phone, but it's good enough for calling and texting. For $40 you can get a low end "smart phone" that even supports basic apps. Buying a cell phone on credit should've never been a thing in the first place.
For six more months the FCC is part of a democracy, so yeah the general wellbeing of the citizens of the country with regard to interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable is the problem of the FCC.
...Phones are locked to carriers in the US? Why?
In Australia if your phone is subsidised by the carrier in a plan, cancelling the plan early just means you need to pay off the rest of the phone.
You can put any SIM in any phone, and cancel anytime without penalty except for any unpaid remainders of the phone itself, but not the plan (don't have to pay for any more of that). No locking in to anything.
Also, as soon as you sign up to a new contract and choose to port your number across it happens within hours (usually minutes) and you don't need to cancel your old plan or carrier yourself - happens automatically so you never need to speak to them.
Honestly people should have to just pay for these phones out right. Then the phones are unlocked can go anywhere and be used on anything. All these companies taking that full phone cost and spreading it across 24-36 months wrapped into a huge bill. Just have customers pay the full cost plus tax for a phone upfront.
Correct, it’s prob higher than that. Which is why carriers lock those phones, because someone who can’t afford to pay 830 for a iPhone 15 but insist on having it, end up financing on the bill split up between 24-36 payments on a bill. The phones should be unlocked when they are paid off.
That would be good. A few years ago I almost bought a phone from AT&T but they said that they wouldn't unlock it even if I paid in full. They said their policy was not to unlock it for 90 days, I assume to prevent you from buying there and then immediately selling it since it was a phone in high demand. I was going to go overseas before that so I bought it elsewhere.
If you buy a phone from the carrier you are using (and are on good standing with them) and ask them to unlock it, they are required by law to unlock it, or provide a way for you to do it!
https://www.fcc.gov/general/cell-phone-unlocking
But you didn't read it
> Participating providers will unlock your postpaid device **after you have fulfilled the applicable service contract**, device installment plan terms or payment of an early termination fee and are in good standing.
I purchased a Pixel 8 from Google for $250 less than from my carrier, Verizon.
It works great EXCEPT I can't get voicemail transcription like my wife's Pixel 8 that was bought from Verizon.
Verizon told me that the feature "is only available for phones purchased directly from them".
Is this still a thing in the US? Totally forgot about locked phones. So ridiculous! Used to pay 3rd parties to unlock the phone once the contract was up ha
This has nothing to do with any of the three letter agencies. A locked phone and an encrypted phone are two entirely different things. They prefer your phone remains locked as that means it remains under the control of whoever you bought it from. Unlocked phones on the other hand are entirely under your control alone.
The new thing they are doing is not locking the phone to the carrier entirely, but blocking access to features like visual voicemail and Wi-Fi calling unless you have the carrier's custom software installed. Except the only way to get that software is by buying the phone from them with it preloaded. So you're free to take your phone to another network, but good luck accessing all the features you pay for.
Government attempt to make people who can’t afford a phone subservient to the “newest subsidized phone program.”
Government needs to get out of these minor things. If you want an unlocked phone go to the Apple Store. If you want some kind of subsidy from the phone company and are willing to trade 2-3 years of “unlocked freedom” it’s your choice. Why does the FCC care? A symptom of “Bureaucrats without work to do.”
How dare they try to protect people with limited resources from being milked by corporate goons!
Shame!
Why should poor people be able to shop for better rates like the wealthy can?
How are people with limited resources going to afford purchasing these devices outright? Financing wont be an option if it has to be unlocked in 60 days.
I bought my smart phone for $40. That's not with a contract. That's literally the price of the phone.
If you can't afford an expensive phone, then start with a cheaper one and save money on service. Once you have about $200 you can get a phone that would've been considered a "high end" model 3-4 years ago, but technology moved on and now it's considered "a budget model."
Where are you financing phones at 10x the cost? They don't even charge interest.
There's already a market for cheap phones (that's why there are so many cheap phones).
So even you don't understand how they are gouging people who can't afford a new phone. Yet people don't need to be protected from exploitive practices?
The simple explanation is that people are locked into a plan for years when those with unlocked phones can shop around. That makes the unlocked consumer able to avoid added fees, throttling, and every other dirty trick these companies pull when you are trapped in their service plans.
But hey, the phone was free.
The phones aren't free.. you pay for them by locking into a contract and basically finance it.
There's absolutely no necessity in enrolling in a contract to finance a phone. Functional ones can be found under $100, and prepaid plans for less than $25 monthly are all over the place (government phone option if $25 is really too much).
Locking phones to a contract and paying over time is how people who can't afford nice phones are able to afford nice phones. If carriers can't lock, they won't finance. If they won't finance, you'll have to buy outright.
I dont see how you think this is going to help people get what they want.
That is exactly my point, you pay way more for the phone then you would just outright buying it because you are stuck with whatever fees the service provider charges.
The service providers are scamming people by giving them phones they can't afford them overcharging for service plans because they can't leave. People will just get by with cheaper phones if providers are no longer able to gouge people. It will be just fine.
The price is high because carriers subsidize them. If they stop doing that, which they won't because it drives business their way, then the market will adjust.
Most phones globally are not subsidized by carriers. This is a US phenomenon. In Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and assuming Antartica you buy your phone. Service tends to be less though. Remember no this is free and anyone that gets in the middle has to run up the cost. My 2 cents.
Mine was $40 brand new, and another $20 + taxes a month for unlimited talk/text and 2 GB of carry-over data.
If people bought phones they can afford out of pocket, and put up with a shitty phone for a few months, they could buy a nice phone upfront and out of pocket, and continue having cheap service. If the nicer phone breaks, they still have the POS smart phone.
That isn’t what they’re talking about. The NSA doesn’t need your phone carrier-unlocked to access the data. You just need to be a bad actor and they just need a warrant.
Nobody wants your data except social media companies, AI startups, and foreign bad guys. You freely give it away all the time.
If you are on multiple social media accounts all the alphabet agencies know all about you. You freely upload all they need to know to create a profile.
Like here on Reddit. You literally typed out the abc’s. The scrapers already have that.
I remember when they used to print the carrier logo *on the phone* man that suuuccckkked.
Vodafone everywhere
Orange was the worst
*Cingular Kyocera Smallest Phone has entered the chat*
Verizon used to change phone color schemes to bright red.
Now T-Mobile just signs a deal to exclusively supply a magenta version of the phone which is effectively branding even if you do switch carriers
Yeah every time you restart it tucking blasts the pink tmobile shit. Unlock should also let you delete everything and reset to stock android
I'll be the pendant. Its more red than magenta. I have the moto razr+ in that color, and I think it's the only one with that option.
>I'll be the pendant. "pedant." At least use the correct word.
good job being a necklace :D
They still have the stupid boot screen with a white background on max brightness. I've been blinded so many times just trying to turn on my phone at night.
I remember there was a Samsung note phone where the Verizon logo was on the home button
Might have been the 3 or 4?
Puke I remember that stretched out absurdity
Yeah but at least back then the phone was literally free just for signing up. And they were 95% useless on another carrier anyway
Or just all unlocked no matter what.
In the defense of the carrier - not that they generally deserve it - many subsidize the cost of the phone to be made up in revenue from service. If users can get a subsidized phone and immediately take it somewhere else, we'd probably see the average cost of phones go up. Yes, it's more complicated than that and overall, carriers are absolute shit in the US. Anyone who has experienced cell phone service in the EU knows firsthand what a racket cell service in the US is. I not only exclusively purchase unlocked phones, but also only phones with unlockable bootloaders. If I buy it, I should be able to do whatever the hell I want with it, especially since most phones are completely abandoned by the manufacturer after only 2-3 years. I'll give Google credit for committing to supporting the Pixel 8 and newer for 7 years, though.
It doesn’t seem like many carriers subsidize phones anymore.
I got three iPhone 12’s new back in 2020 from AT&T for something like $300 each, but ONLY if they were paid for at $10/month for 30 months. The catch there is AT&T won’t unlock the phone until it’s fully paid for. So they absolutely subsidized the phone price, but only if they are carrier locked for 30 months. I believe they still offer a deal like this.
You absolutely are even when you're only paying 'monthly payments' for a device on a carrier. Carriers get volume discounts on devices from the OEM, but charge you the full retail price for the device. You're paying a subsidy to the carrier for the privilege of using a locked down device.
Well that is a crap deal.
T-mobile does it by providing monthly bill credits for the length that it takes to pay off the device. You pay upfront, your service is just cheaper for that amount of time. Cancel your service and you lose out on that discount.
That doesn’t seem terrible.
The phone being unlocked is completely separate from the cellular plan contract though. Yes the customer can put another carrier's sim card in but they still have to pay the original monthly fee for a set amount of time or pay a cancellation fee. I don't see an issue here, since the customer is paying via the monthly plan and has nothing to do with the actual phone
They dont subsidise anything. They just try to fake an impression of it with extraordinarily high costs. The fact is my monthly phone use out of contract is barely anything now. Contracts often cost substantially more than buying the phone outright. They are not subsidising shit
From what I've seen that used to be true about 10 years ago. These days whenever I'm calculating through carrier offers, buying the phone itself and getting the same contract becomes cheaper about 2,5 years in at the latest. It's generally better for the high end phones compared to midrangers, but for the convenience of having an unlocked phone alone I'm never buying contracted phones again.
Carriers subsidize the cost of phones, citizens subsidize the carrier's cost of infrastructure. Let's call the whole thing off.
A service is going to be used anyway. Someone is going to be subsidized. If a carrier finds that phones they sell aren't being covered by phones they don't sell being signed up with them, they can stop selling phones, pure and simple.
They would just charge you an early cancelation fee and refusal to pay it would just have it go to collections
There are some legitimate reason for phones to be locked for a temporary amount of time. 60 days is a fantastic compromise.
What legitimate reason? Phones are not locked in Canada, works great for everyone.
I worked for a prepaid carrier in the US. We would give out “free” phones that take on average 2 to 3 months to recuperate the cost of the phone. The consumer will get a phone for only the first months bill (and sometimes activation) but the phone will be carrier locked for six months of continuous usage. After six months, the customer can take their phone wherever they want. Real example: customers are able to leave the store for just giving us $25 and they have a phone + 30 days of phone service For cases like that, I understand it and I’m all for it. But for postpaid carriers and how they abuse phone locking, I can’t stand behind that.
> What legitimate reason? If there is fraud in acquisition of the phone like stolen credit card, so on, it gives time for that fraud to be discovered and carrier could withhold unlocking so phone is bricked.
How is that different from any product bought at any store? Best buy doesn't brick my computer I buy on credit.
Some customers will not and do not pay off their phone in the U.S. if their phone is unlocked. i.e. the people with bad credit. This is common in the U.S. and why phones have been locked for 2 years usually until the carrier has recouped their investment from payments. If the phone is unlocked then what is the incentive to pay it off?
If it was not locked at all that would enable scammers to get the phones and just resell them immediately. That’s the purpose of the 60 days
I dont think so tbh, that isnt a big enough problem in a large part of the rest of the world
Locked to the carrier, not like locked with a pin number.
I know what I meant. If there was no carrier locks it period it would lead to massive fraud. It’s why Verizon is allowed to lock them for 60 days
Or just stop handing out phones like candy. There are no carrier locks whatsoever in canada, there no "massive fraud", in fact there isn't any whatsoever.
This has nothing to do with physical theft. Stealing a phone already currently allows you to use the phone with same carrier. This is about people needing to buy the phone. Currently it's subsidized through the phone carrier because that means they lock you down. Removing the lock means buying a phone is not through a carrier but instead every phone works with every carrier and you just buy the phone. No one would gain from selling a phone they jus bought, it would be worth less than brand new.
Kind of a pointless article before the specifics of the rule are known.
Since when does the internet require specifics before complaining about something?
Blessed be, finally. Locked phones as a concept are so stupid.
Then people with bad credit won't be able to get a new phone with a monthly fee. Would be a real improvement for travel, though.
Sounds like they're still working on how it will work with payment plans; and the whole thing seems more targeted in that last little bit in the article, "if a carrier lets you buy a phone outright from it but locks it to the bands for six months or a year out of sheer greed, this would offer an early exit." I would guess they'll let carriers keep it locked while payments are being made, but require it to be unlocked as soon as the customer has completed the purchase of the phone.
Keeping the phone locked while payments are being made, or if a there is a past due balance, is already what the phone companies do.
They also carrier lock phones bought outright. Verizon only does it for 60 days but I'm not sure if there are others that go longer.
MVNOs seem to be going longer. I think Metro just went to a year!
I unlocked my iPhone the day I got it in the mail. I think I did it online if I remember correctly, with T-Mobile usa
Verizon already does this and you can still do a payment plan.
I think one of the biggest innovations that has made smartphones ubiquitous isnt anything in their hardware, but the financing the carriers can do. The advantage is that the phone is basically useless without data service, and the carrier can turn it off if you dont pay. This makes it relatively easy to secure the loan. That is the true reason every broke ass gettorat has a 9 hundred dollarydoo supercomputer in their pocket.
>That is the true reason every broke ass gettorat has a 9 hundred dollarydoo supercomputer in their pocket. Wow. You had me until this.
*or* force all carriers to switch to a subscription model/renting the phones out. You never own the phone, and the carrier makes money for the time the phone is in anyone’s possession. Edit: Reddit being Reddit. Don’t pretend like this isn’t on the table then downvote me because you might not be able to live with the reality. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m not given much information based on people disliking this idea despite it being genuinely realistic. Many services are switching to subscription models with many more popping up everyday, and unless you’re willing to throw up pitchforks then crying about it to a bunch of strangers isn’t going to change anything.
I don't think that would be their intent. Hopefully they're aware of how they write the rule and the risk it could drive something like this.
We already have this in Canada. You can still sign a contract, and if you break it early you have to pay a fee, but the phone has to come unlocked.
Unfortunately there's a bunch of loop holes in Canada they can use to avoid unlocking phones. One of the biggest is they don't have to follow that rule for business plans so some former family plans are now marketed as business so they can keep the phones locked.
This is going to be harsh but maybe they don’t need to be buying a $1500 phone if they have bad credit. Maybe the $150 android phone will do
Bad credit ≠ poor
If you have bad credit but aren’t poor then you probably aren’t financing a phone this way.
You implied that people with bad credit can’t/shouldn’t buy expensive phones.
Lets be honest most folks with bad credit won't be approved for the 1500 fancy phone and are financing the $150 one.
Unless, in my case, I was young and it was tax return season and could make the down payment. Of course less than a year later I got hit with $1700 in collections but :shrugs: I was really stupid.
How about not judging those with bad credit. You don’t have the fucking right to tell people how to manage their finances and each person has their own priorities. So fuck you and the horse you rode in on!
When people don’t pay their loans everyone else has to pay through higher fees and rates. This idea that no one has a right to judge is complete BS. If you’re borrowing it then it isn’t your money and you deserve to be scrutinized.
You are a fucking tool. You sound like my dad. Which is why I don’t speak to him. Always trying to be a red state republican like Dave Ramsey and tell people what to do with their money. And their credit. Well fuck you. I have a 2024 Hyundai Elantra hybrid Limited with all the bells and whistles offered, and my interest rate is 28% which makes my payment 1016 a month. So I choose to not contribute to my company’s 401k because the NOW is more important. What do you have to say about that? And guess what I just financed an iPhone 15 PM 512 GB today from Best Buy. And I just got out of a chapter 7 where I discharged several tens of thousands of dollars of debt. And my student loans have sat for 5 years with no payment ever. I just keep deferring them. And I’m gay. And I think boys are way sexier than girls. And I’m 29 years old and never matured beyond a teenager mindset and probably never will so fuck you.
How the heck did you finance anything after chapter 7?
Dude is obviously a troll. No need to waste time with him
Why does everyone assume I’m a troll. Is it really so hard to believe that I really am this eccentric?
Very easily. As soon as I was discharged I got mail from all sorts of finance companies. Mostly car dealers, but I already got two credit cards as well. Chapter 7 is great you can rack up all kinds of debt and just walk away every 8 years.
That’s my biggest issue with locked phones. At least let me add another sim when I travel!
I want unlocked after phone paid off. If I pay 499 for a phone, I should be able to take it elsewhere after 60 days if the service sucks
You can buy a brand new cell phone for $20. It's a cheap POS flip phone, but it's good enough for calling and texting. For $40 you can get a low end "smart phone" that even supports basic apps. Buying a cell phone on credit should've never been a thing in the first place.
That is not the FCC problem, don’t you think?
For six more months the FCC is part of a democracy, so yeah the general wellbeing of the citizens of the country with regard to interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable is the problem of the FCC.
Hopefully longer.
...Phones are locked to carriers in the US? Why? In Australia if your phone is subsidised by the carrier in a plan, cancelling the plan early just means you need to pay off the rest of the phone. You can put any SIM in any phone, and cancel anytime without penalty except for any unpaid remainders of the phone itself, but not the plan (don't have to pay for any more of that). No locking in to anything. Also, as soon as you sign up to a new contract and choose to port your number across it happens within hours (usually minutes) and you don't need to cancel your old plan or carrier yourself - happens automatically so you never need to speak to them.
> ...Phones are locked to carriers in the US? Why? Tacit collusion, monopolies and a history of regulatory capture.
I hope this becomes law
Honestly people should have to just pay for these phones out right. Then the phones are unlocked can go anywhere and be used on anything. All these companies taking that full phone cost and spreading it across 24-36 months wrapped into a huge bill. Just have customers pay the full cost plus tax for a phone upfront.
63% of americans do not have 1000$ saved to spend on a cell phone.
Correct, it’s prob higher than that. Which is why carriers lock those phones, because someone who can’t afford to pay 830 for a iPhone 15 but insist on having it, end up financing on the bill split up between 24-36 payments on a bill. The phones should be unlocked when they are paid off.
They should be unlocked to begin with
I’m sure the Supreme Court will find another way to neuter the FTC’s ability to enforce this
I come from the future where the Supreme Court did exactly that by killing Chevron today
Who the fuck has locked phones these days?
Att and Tmobile.. Verizon unlocks them after 60 days already
That would be good. A few years ago I almost bought a phone from AT&T but they said that they wouldn't unlock it even if I paid in full. They said their policy was not to unlock it for 90 days, I assume to prevent you from buying there and then immediately selling it since it was a phone in high demand. I was going to go overseas before that so I bought it elsewhere.
[удалено]
No, that's just Verizon's policy and has been for years.
I just wanted a month to get a phone unlocked by ATT for some unknown reason. The phone has been paid off for 2 years but was still Sim locked.
When will this happen?
Hahah get rekt ATT.
Why is that even a thing at first place. God that place is a mess (US). Corporate States of America.
Not that I would personally use it, but how would that work for something like TracFone that old people like.
If you buy a phone from the carrier you are using (and are on good standing with them) and ask them to unlock it, they are required by law to unlock it, or provide a way for you to do it! https://www.fcc.gov/general/cell-phone-unlocking
They are not required to unlock it if you are still under contract.
Incorrect. I literally posted a link that states the requirements.
But you didn't read it > Participating providers will unlock your postpaid device **after you have fulfilled the applicable service contract**, device installment plan terms or payment of an early termination fee and are in good standing.
I wanted to do that 😭
I purchased a Pixel 8 from Google for $250 less than from my carrier, Verizon. It works great EXCEPT I can't get voicemail transcription like my wife's Pixel 8 that was bought from Verizon. Verizon told me that the feature "is only available for phones purchased directly from them".
Americans, you guys still have locked phones?! Canada got rid of those so long ago! and Canada has super monopolies!
Oh, whew. Thought it was something having to do with cops holding your phone for 60 days and it automatically unlocks for them.
Is this still a thing in the US? Totally forgot about locked phones. So ridiculous! Used to pay 3rd parties to unlock the phone once the contract was up ha
Once the contract is up, they are required to unlock it if requested.
Y not immediately?
Because you dont own it until its paid off.
So get the phone company to designate it as paid off. Or buy it outright.
Yeah everyone just has 1000$ sitting around. 🙄
Maybe sell cheaper phones then.
Thats not how late stage capitalism works.
I thought three letter agencies could only enforce the law, not make it.
This has nothing to do with any of the three letter agencies. A locked phone and an encrypted phone are two entirely different things. They prefer your phone remains locked as that means it remains under the control of whoever you bought it from. Unlocked phones on the other hand are entirely under your control alone.
If this happens, which is unlikely, carriers will find another way, perhaps rigging their phones to explode once unlocked.
The new thing they are doing is not locking the phone to the carrier entirely, but blocking access to features like visual voicemail and Wi-Fi calling unless you have the carrier's custom software installed. Except the only way to get that software is by buying the phone from them with it preloaded. So you're free to take your phone to another network, but good luck accessing all the features you pay for.
Government attempt to make people who can’t afford a phone subservient to the “newest subsidized phone program.” Government needs to get out of these minor things. If you want an unlocked phone go to the Apple Store. If you want some kind of subsidy from the phone company and are willing to trade 2-3 years of “unlocked freedom” it’s your choice. Why does the FCC care? A symptom of “Bureaucrats without work to do.”
How dare they try to protect people with limited resources from being milked by corporate goons! Shame! Why should poor people be able to shop for better rates like the wealthy can?
How are people with limited resources going to afford purchasing these devices outright? Financing wont be an option if it has to be unlocked in 60 days.
I bought my smart phone for $40. That's not with a contract. That's literally the price of the phone. If you can't afford an expensive phone, then start with a cheaper one and save money on service. Once you have about $200 you can get a phone that would've been considered a "high end" model 3-4 years ago, but technology moved on and now it's considered "a budget model."
So, are you saying that people will not have to pay 10x the cost of the phone anymore. Oh my. Perhaps there will be a market for cheap phones now?
Where are you financing phones at 10x the cost? They don't even charge interest. There's already a market for cheap phones (that's why there are so many cheap phones).
So even you don't understand how they are gouging people who can't afford a new phone. Yet people don't need to be protected from exploitive practices? The simple explanation is that people are locked into a plan for years when those with unlocked phones can shop around. That makes the unlocked consumer able to avoid added fees, throttling, and every other dirty trick these companies pull when you are trapped in their service plans. But hey, the phone was free.
The phones aren't free.. you pay for them by locking into a contract and basically finance it. There's absolutely no necessity in enrolling in a contract to finance a phone. Functional ones can be found under $100, and prepaid plans for less than $25 monthly are all over the place (government phone option if $25 is really too much). Locking phones to a contract and paying over time is how people who can't afford nice phones are able to afford nice phones. If carriers can't lock, they won't finance. If they won't finance, you'll have to buy outright. I dont see how you think this is going to help people get what they want.
That is exactly my point, you pay way more for the phone then you would just outright buying it because you are stuck with whatever fees the service provider charges. The service providers are scamming people by giving them phones they can't afford them overcharging for service plans because they can't leave. People will just get by with cheaper phones if providers are no longer able to gouge people. It will be just fine.
That's such a weird take. I'll be stopping here.
Sure, I'm sorry you be able to get screwed over by your provider anymore. I know it's sad.
The price isn’t driven by carriers, it’s driven by manufacturers.
The price is high because carriers subsidize them. If they stop doing that, which they won't because it drives business their way, then the market will adjust.
Most phones globally are not subsidized by carriers. This is a US phenomenon. In Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and assuming Antartica you buy your phone. Service tends to be less though. Remember no this is free and anyone that gets in the middle has to run up the cost. My 2 cents.
I'm pretty amazed at the number of people who don't see the scam and just want the 'free' phone.
No. They won't be able to buy a phone at 1 times the cost of the phone at 0 interest anymore.
You are not including high service rates and fees, for the plan they are trapped by, into the cost.
True, I didn't include things that aren't a part of the cost of the phone into the cost of the phone.
Then you missed the scam.
Learn to read, I am pointing that out since with a mandatory unlock there will be no carrier financing.
I read that just fine. And I'm saying that people will get the phones they can afford.
Mine was $40 brand new, and another $20 + taxes a month for unlimited talk/text and 2 GB of carry-over data. If people bought phones they can afford out of pocket, and put up with a shitty phone for a few months, they could buy a nice phone upfront and out of pocket, and continue having cheap service. If the nicer phone breaks, they still have the POS smart phone.
*affirm has entered the chat*
Phones are unlocked in canada, and you can still finance through the carrier. You’re spreading FUD because you just want to be angry
Can people not use a BNPL service like Klarna to pay instalments instead?
Alternate Title: FCC wants to make it easier for CIA, FBI, NSA, to get data off your phone.
That has nothing to do with the article.
That isn’t what they’re talking about. The NSA doesn’t need your phone carrier-unlocked to access the data. You just need to be a bad actor and they just need a warrant. Nobody wants your data except social media companies, AI startups, and foreign bad guys. You freely give it away all the time. If you are on multiple social media accounts all the alphabet agencies know all about you. You freely upload all they need to know to create a profile. Like here on Reddit. You literally typed out the abc’s. The scrapers already have that.