Electronic Frontier Foundation Wants a Zero-Day Limit on Locked Phones

WASHINGTON, August 1, 2024 – The Federal Communications Commission has proposed requiring that all mobile providers unlock consumers’ phones within 60 days. But some groups say that’s too much time, and want the agency to require unlocking upon activation. 

The non-profit Electronic Freedom Foundations and other advocacy groups are among those seeking not 60 days, but 0 days, to unlock cell phones. 

Advocates of hardware freedom, or the ability to fully control or modify computerized hardware, urge the FCC to “eliminate hardware-based carrier lock-in periods entirely and require carriers to unlock handsets upon sale,” according to a public comment by the groups. “Even if the lock exists for just 60 days, locking a phone to a particular carrier is customer-hostile, props up predatory business models, and weakens the secondary market for smartphones,” said the groups, including U.S. PIRG, the Repair Association, iFixit and others.

Announced in June, the FCC’s proposal would standardize unlocking requirements for all mobile service providers. It would mandate that providers unlock devices for use on other networks, making it easier for users to switch carriers. Verizon already follows this requirement due to a spectrum purchase agreement, according to the agency. 

At its July meeting, the FCC proposed the 60 day rule. But the advocates for the shorter time frame say they aim to enhance consumer choice and flexibility “when switching service providers, increase competition among service providers, and reduce customer confusion by applying the same unlocking rules to all service providers.”

The groups said that eliminating locking “worked well in Canada and the UK” and “demonstrates that carriers’ arguments about the dangers of unlimited unlocking are overblown and addressable via other market controls.” 

The repair advocacy group had additional consumer concerns, for instance, a traveler having to buy a new phone abroad due to locking, inadequate coverage for 60 days, inability to use dual-SIM features, and experienced delays and poor support while trying to unlock their phone.

They also advocated that eliminating locks would enhance the secondary smartphone market by increasing phone resale values, reducing e-waste, and alleviating inventory shortages. Phones will retain higher resale value, fixing market inefficiencies. It will lower switching costs for consumers, simplify resale, and lessen the impact of manufacturing hardware locks.