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FCC wants all phones unlocked in sixty days, AT&T and T-Mobile aren't so keen

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Re: FCC wants all phones unlocked in sixty days, AT&T and T-Mobile aren't so keen

#71

Post by acdha »

siskiyou wrote: post #57

Just adding a little bit of context about AT&T: I collect used cell phones, erase them, unlock when possible, and distribute them to unhoused people through several local food shelves, which allows those people to access benefits, housing, health care, jobs, etc which would otherwise be out of reach. With AT&T I can go to their website and unlock an old phone in minutes, allowing them to use a no-cost carrier like QL…

How do they distinguish you from a phone thief? Is there some kind of check with the previous owner?

Re: FCC wants all phones unlocked in sixty days, AT&T and T-Mobile aren't so keen

#72

Post by which »

amluto wrote: post #69
which wrote: post #47

This might be well intentioned but it's a bad idea. See https://www.justice.gov/usao-edtx/pr/101-indicted-transnatio... for why but the gist of it is that people use fake IDs to impersonate someone, get phones on credit, and make only the first payment. Then they sell it to a wholesaler who uses a sketchy connection to get the phone unlocked, Fedexes the phone to Hong Kong, and never pays again. Having to bribe rogue…

Then lock out phones that are in default. This is not what carrier locks do.

The FCC is proposing unlocks for phones that are not completely paid for yet. No one is against unlocking paid for phones. The lock is basically the only recourse the carrier has for nonpayment because blacklisting the IMEI doesn't matter if the phone goes to another country. I don't think you can relock a phone once it's unlocked, and the crooks typically make 1 or 2 payments which would cover the 60 days so by the time the carrier realizes the plan is in default they're not getting their money back.

Re: FCC wants all phones unlocked in sixty days, AT&T and T-Mobile aren't so keen

#73

Post by pessimizer »

acdha wrote: post #71
siskiyou wrote: post #57

Just adding a little bit of context about AT&T: I collect used cell phones, erase them, unlock when possible, and distribute them to unhoused people through several local food shelves, which allows those people to access benefits, housing, health care, jobs, etc which would otherwise be out of reach. With AT&T I can go to their website and unlock an old phone in minutes, allowing them to use a no-cost carrier like QL…

How do they distinguish you from a phone thief? Is there some kind of check with the previous owner?

Unlocking from being bound to a cellular network.

Re: FCC wants all phones unlocked in sixty days, AT&T and T-Mobile aren't so keen

#74

Post by which »

ewoodrich wrote: post #49
which wrote: post #47

This might be well intentioned but it's a bad idea. See https://www.justice.gov/usao-edtx/pr/101-indicted-transnatio... for why but the gist of it is that people use fake IDs to impersonate someone, get phones on credit, and make only the first payment. Then they sell it to a wholesaler who uses a sketchy connection to get the phone unlocked, Fedexes the phone to Hong Kong, and never pays again. Having to bribe rogue…

> The locking is also part of why new iPhones are even affordable to middle class people in the first place. Verizon has been forced to unlock after 60 days by an agreement with the FCC for years now and they still offer similar subsidies as the other carriers.

Yeah but they might just be eating higher fraud losses. It used to be pretty much instant unlocking until they asked for a waiver to make it 60 days in 2019 (which was granted by the FCC with not much pushback). So clearly some delay is important. Given their previous agreement they might not have felt they could ask for a longer wait.

Re: FCC wants all phones unlocked in sixty days, AT&T and T-Mobile aren't so keen

#75

Post by Heston »

Kiboneu wrote: post #7

My friend bought an android phone from AT&T. Recently she unlocked it, and she was able to use other sim cards, but the phone was still branded with the AT&T logo and loaded with its software. The phone can’t make any over the air updates because it relies in AT&T to fetch carrier specific updates… which fails when she switches providers. I’m torn because it’s either flash unofficial firmware from the internet or liv…

Could she just get a friend using AT&T put their sim in her phone to have it updated?

Re: FCC wants all phones unlocked in sixty days, AT&T and T-Mobile aren't so keen

#76

Post by downrightmike »

indigodaddy wrote: post #66
HeatrayEnjoyer wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not subject to that agreement by accident.

Sure but they are still competitively disadvantaged in the landscape as a result.

Good, they shouldn't do bad shit to people for a buck

Re: FCC wants all phones unlocked in sixty days, AT&T and T-Mobile aren't so keen

#77

Post by nashashmi »

Centigonal wrote: post #67

I was abroad recently, and my mother couldn't get service because her phone was SIM locked by cricket and the requisite six month period haven't passed for it to be eligible for an unlock. She had bought her phone full price from Cricket. If she had purchased the same phone for the same price somewhere else, it would've come unlocked.

Cricket phones are generally subsidized

Re: FCC wants all phones unlocked in sixty days, AT&T and T-Mobile aren't so keen

#78

Post by underlipton »

acdha wrote: post #71
siskiyou wrote: post #57

Just adding a little bit of context about AT&T: I collect used cell phones, erase them, unlock when possible, and distribute them to unhoused people through several local food shelves, which allows those people to access benefits, housing, health care, jobs, etc which would otherwise be out of reach. With AT&T I can go to their website and unlock an old phone in minutes, allowing them to use a no-cost carrier like QL…

How do they distinguish you from a phone thief? Is there some kind of check with the previous owner?

I imagine the phone's previous account having removed the device/cancelled service without filing any sort of loss/theft claim would help. And then a red flag would be the unlock call coming before the previous account adds a replacement phone/cancels service.

Re: FCC wants all phones unlocked in sixty days, AT&T and T-Mobile aren't so keen

#79

Post by aceofspades19 »

486sx33 wrote: post #3
jalk wrote: post #2

Can't the operators just sell unlocked phones with monthly installments instead? The installment plan will then include free service for some amount of data/minutes. If the user chooses to switch operator, they are still bound by the installment contract to pay off the phone.

Yes, but let’s just say you got a 1200 device and only made the first two payments… jump to another carrier and abandon the one with the finance plan. What’s the recourse for the carrier?

People made the same argument in Canada but they changed the rules so you either get an unlocked phone or they have to unlock it upon request. Yet there has not been widespread issues of this happening. They can still ding your credit & there is only a small number of carriers so you can only do that so many times before you are going to have serious issues if you don't care about your credit or collections.

Also you can still get the phone unlocked without the carrier anyways if you really want to so it would not deter anyone who really wants to run off with the phone anyways.

Re: FCC wants all phones unlocked in sixty days, AT&T and T-Mobile aren't so keen

#80

Post by astura »

happymellon wrote: post #6
486sx33 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but let’s just say you got a 1200 device and only made the first two payments… jump to another carrier and abandon the one with the finance plan. What’s the recourse for the carrier?

I bought a car, but then decided to not make the repayments. What's the recourse for the lender?

Cars are repoed when payments aren't made.
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