OTI to Carr: Move Forward with 60-Day Unlocking Mandate

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2025 – Might Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr be close to calling for a vote to require mobile phone unlocking? 

He likely has the votes to issue a unanimous decision. 

Michael Calabrese of the Wireless Future Open Technology Institute at New America, paid a visit to Carr’s office last week (before Carr officially became Chairman) to advocate for a phone-unlocking mandate.

“Consistent with our consumer group comments and more recent joint public interest letter, a policy of automatic unlocking of all phones… would promote its goals of promoting competition in the handset and wireless markets, while preserving the ability of carriers to detect and prevent fraud and to offer low-cost handsets,” Calabrese wrote in a Jan. 21 FCC filing. 

Calabrese was pushing on an open door because Carr and Commissioner Nathan Simington, both Republicans, joined two Democrats — Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and Commissioner Anna Gomez — last July in a vote to launch a notice of proposed rulemaking that featured an unlocking mandate that would take effect within 60 days of activation.

AT&T and T-Mobile opposed the unlocking plan, saying the agency lacked legal authority and risked unleashing profound economic consequences.

Some organizations have issues with the 60-day waiting period, NCTA – The Internet & Television Association argued last October that fraud could increase substantially if the FCC moved forward with the 60-day unlocking mandate. The organization urged the FCC to extend the period to 180 days.