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FCC Now Requires American Carriers to Unlock Consumers’ Handsets

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Whats this? Oh nothing, just the FCC continuing to implement awesome rulings that benefit the consumers more than they benefit the carriers that are probably not amused with all the recent rulings that have been dealt. 

 

IMHO, unlocking phones should just be a thing. Why do we have to treat it like some magical invention? People who buy phones should have the expectation to get them unlocked ASAP. If they leave your network, so be it. You lost a customer because you probably suck. Fix that and suck less, I'm sure people would be happy to take your devices to your network. 
 

I personally won't even look at a phone if it can't be bought out of the box unlocked. I once went through way too many hoops and hurdles on my S3 to get it unlocked, left a fairly sour taste in my mouth on how carriers handle some devices and unlocking in general. 

 

 

Following talks between the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), major American mobile carriers now have the obligation to unlock consumers’ smartphones should they request to.

 

The new rule came into force yesterday, and that essentially allows you to get a prepaid phone unlocked, albeit within one year of purchase.  Contract phone buyers would still need to pay the full price of their devices and fulfill all obligations before they can get their phone unlocked.  But once that’s done, you can have your carrier unlock your phone, thereby allowing you to use it on the network of your choice.

 

While the CTIA represents major carriers AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless, we can’t discount the chance of “carriers being carriers” and putting their subscribers through all sorts of rigmarole before they can get their handsets unlocked.  And there will always be the fine print to read, the t’s to be crossed, and the i’s to be dotted – it may take some time for your phone to get unlocked.  But since the carriers are now required by federal law to unlock phones if a customer requests, we don’t expect too many customers to be asked to go through hoops just so that they can use their phone on anyone’s network.

http://www.modernreaders.com/fcc-now-requires-american-carriers-to-unlock-consumers-handsets/19740/lorenzo-tanos

 

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woah the USA is on actually doing something good roll

Thats that. If you need to get in touch chances are you can find someone that knows me that can get in touch.

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Finally. America doing something proper :D

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Might as well just use GSM as well since it's global and make sim cards madatory!

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FINALLY. No more of this $400+ bullshit to get an unlocked phone (hopefully), since they cost twice as much as the locked version does.

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Haha, I can't believe it took that long for you guys to get that, but congratulations!

 

 

Might as well just use GSM as well since it's global and make sim cards madatory!

Most companies are on GSM networks ;)

 

FINALLY. No more of this $400+ bullshit to get an unlocked phone (hopefully), since they cost twice as much as the locked version does.

You'll still have to pay full price to get the phone unlocked.

I imagine you'll have to finish the contract before they'll unlock the phone for you. Or pay the full price up front.

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Wait....

 

The government did something right, and it's now snowing here in Virginia...

 

 

Let me just go make sure that's actually snow, and not ash because the sky is on fire...

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ok, so they have to unlock it at request, but will they take money for it? like paying the gap of price between the unlocked and locked?

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ok, so they have to unlock it at request, but will they take money for it? like paying the gap of price between the unlocked and locked?

 

I think it is reasonable to expect the customer to pay the difference between the retail price and the contract-subsidized price before letting you run off with the phone. They are, after all, essentially leasing the device to you (with an initial down-payment of x dollars) and you pay the rest of the price as part of the contract over the next two years.

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dont worry, phone carriers will come up with something that essentially locks the phones to them again. 

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Haha, I can't believe it took that long for you guys to get that, but congratulations!

 

 

Most companies are on GSM networks ;)

 

You'll still have to pay full price to get the phone unlocked.

I imagine you'll have to finish the contract before they'll unlock the phone for you. Or pay the full price up front.

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Yay! Something good for a change, although I could have unlock my phone anytime I wanted by means the carriers wouldn't like.

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Yeah, I too expected to buy a 200$ iPhone and unlock it instead of paying 800$.

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Might as well just use GSM as well since it's global and make sim cards madatory!

Why would you want all devices to use a legacy network that's decades old and quite slow?

 

SIM Cards are already pretty much standard. Most current and next gen cellphone technologies use SIM cards, including HSPA/UMTS, and LTE.

 

FYI, HSPA is derived from CMDA (which is SIM-less), not GSM, despite the fact that they use SIM cards.

 

Haha, I can't believe it took that long for you guys to get that, but congratulations!

 

 

Most companies are on GSM networks ;)

 

You'll still have to pay full price to get the phone unlocked.

I imagine you'll have to finish the contract before they'll unlock the phone for you. Or pay the full price up front.

Many companies are, yes. But only for their really old legacy networks.

 

LTE != GSM

 

SIM Card != GSM

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Yeah, I too expected to buy a 200$ iPhone and unlock it instead of paying 800$.

Same here. :(

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Yay!

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Here in New Zealand the only locked phones are the cheapy ones  and you can get them unlocked for $30 within the first 9 months of purchase (free after that), all the mid-range and flagships are already unlocked.

 

Usually when someone buys a phone, they enter a contract or put the device on deferred payments, if they want to go to another provider then they have to buy out the contract/payments, having to pay an excess to unlock a phone they already own on top of that would be outrageous.

 

Good to see USA is catching up to the rest of the civilized world.

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Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!1111111!1!!!!!!111!111!!!!!!!!!1!!1!!!!!!!!

Haha, it makes sense though if you really think about it.

They're subsidizing the cost of the phone and expect to recoup that cost through your contract payments.

Thus, they keep you locked to their network until you've completed the payments.

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This has been in effect since 2009. If you are on a contract, carriers have been required to unlock it if the customer requests. I got mine unlocked for free back then through verizon, and a friend did the same from AT&T...what's the big deal

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wait....

 

The government did something right, and it's now snowing here in Virginia...

 

 

Let me just go make sure that's actually snow, and not ash because the sky is on fire...

Thats what I was thinking...smells smoky.

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