GOP State AGs Oppose FCC’s 60-Day Mobile Phone Unlocking Plan

WASHINGTON, Sep. 24, 2024 - A group of five Republican Attorneys General submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission detailing their positions against the agency’s proposed 60-day unlocking rule for handheld devices.

The group included Kris Kobach of Kansas, Steven Marshall of Alabama, Raúl Labrador of Idaho, Christopher Carr of Georgia and Austin Knudsen of Montana.

One of the key arguments presented by the group was that the FCC requirement to unlock handsets after 60 days represented a major overreach by a federal agency. The AGs said that no provision in the FCC’s Title III authority allows the agency to mandate handset unlocking after a specified amount of time, despite the agency’s claims to the contrary.