Verizon imposes new roadblock on users trying to unlock paid-off phones

The AT&T policy says postpaid phones purchased at least 60 days ago can be unlocked when the device is paid in full. The T-Mobile policy says that postpaid phones active on the T-Mobile network for at least 40 days can be unlocked after being paid in full. AT&T has a six-month waiting period for unlocking prepaid phones, while T-Mobile has a 365-day waiting period for prepaid phones.

A week after the FCC ruling, Verizon started enforcing a 365-day lock period on phones purchased through its TracFone division. Customers of TracFone and other “Verizon Value” brands have to request unlocks after the year is over as Verizon doesn’t promise to unlock phones automatically for those subsidiary brands.

“Most people pay their bills online”

The policy for Verizon’s flagship brand promises automatic unlocks, albeit with the new restrictions and waits described earlier in this article. John Bergmayer, legal director of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, told Ars today that he doesn’t understand why Verizon isn’t offering immediate unlocks to people who pay their bills online.

“Gift cards, sure, are a pretty high-fraud area. But most people pay their bills online with normal credit cards. It’s hard to see what is likely the most common way people pay Verizon as being somehow high-risk,” he said.

Verizon also shouldn’t apply the change retroactively, he said. “People should be able to benefit from the policy that was in place on the day they bought the phone,” Bergmayer told Ars.

Public Knowledge and other consumer advocacy groups urged the FCC last year to reject Verizon’s petition to end the 60-day unlocking requirement, but the FCC sided with Verizon. Although the federal rules have changed, Verizon can be forced to uphold its previous terms in cases where the company tries to change them retroactively.

In December, we wrote about a man who sued Verizon and won after the firm retroactively tried to enforce a new policy and refused to unlock a phone he purchased before the policy change. In that case, Verizon decided it would only unlock phones after “60 days of paid active service” even though FCC rules at the time required unlocks 60 days after activation regardless of whether paid service was maintained.