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Mobile wireless service providers have consumers stuck in a trap at the moment. They’ve deliberately made switching to another carrier an extremely difficult process that usually involves paying off the phone and fulfilling other contractual obligations. On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission released a proposal for a new rule that would require carriers to unlock customers’ phones within 60 days of activation and grant them the freedom to easily pick another service.
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This is pretty much all the intel we have on the matter for now, the details are going to be released in full at an upcoming Open Meeting on July 18. The FCC will vote on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on this date and put together a clear set of guidelines for all wireless service providers. The meeting will also go over the rules on whether the 60-day unlocking requirement should be applied to existing contracts and discuss whether or not smaller providers, new entrants, or resellers can take advantage of it.
Though we’re still slightly in the dark about the ins and outs of this proposal, the brief announcement has at least gotten the ball rolling on a welcome change that should have happened a long time ago. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel says “When you buy a phone, you should have the freedom to decide when to change service to the carrier you want and not have the device you own stuck by practices that prevent you from making that choice.”
The proposal means good news not just for customers but for service providers, too. With increased flexibility to switch services, there will be a rise in healthy competition among providers and reduced risk of carrier monopoly.
