NCTA Urges FCC to Adopt Handset-Unlocking Mandate
NCTA representatives spoke with FCC staff to urge the agency to impose a uniform 180-day handset-unlocking mandate on all carriers, according to a filing posted Thursday in docket 24-186. “In addition to increasing consumer choice and reducing consumer confusion,” an unlocking mandate would “promote affordability” by “reducing the artificial friction imposed on consumers seeking to switch to more competitive providers.”
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Recent data shows that consumers overspend $2,000 each year on mobile services by not opting for “the increasing number of competitive options in the marketplace,” NCTA said. Handset unlocking is also “anti-inflationary” in keeping with the administration's economic goals.
Last year, FCC commissioners unanimously approved an NPRM proposing that carriers unlock handsets 60 days after they’re activated, unless a provider determines that a handset was purchased through fraud (see 2407180037).