What just happened? The Federal Communications Commission has withdrawn a long-standing regulation requiring Verizon Communications to unlock its mobile phones 60 days after activation. The agency concluded that the policy exposed Verizon to widespread device fraud and trafficking networks, costing the carrier hundreds of millions of dollars every year.
The revision effectively removes an unlocking timeframe unique to Verizon among major US carriers. Previously, the company was obliged to make both prepaid and postpaid devices unlockable after just two months, well before the standard one-year industry benchmark. Regulators said that despite being designed to protect consumer choice, the 60-day timeline created openings for large-scale criminal exploitation.
The FCC described the move as an effort to "close a loophole that sophisticated criminal networks and everyday lawbreakers alike have exploited to engage in illicit activity." It added that unlocked Verizon handsets had become a prized target in global resale schemes, frequently stolen or fraudulently acquired in the US and later sold on the dark web for premium prices. Countries such as Russia, China, and Cuba were specifically named among the destinations where these devices ended up.
Verizon petitioned the FCC last year to end the 60-day requirement, citing the rapid rise of organized device fraud. In its filing, the company characterized the problem as "organized globally through connected criminal networks," pointing to a dramatic increase in losses since complying with the shorter lock period.
By Verizon's internal estimates, roughly 784,703 smartphones were lost to fraud across its prepaid and postpaid business lines in 2023 alone. It said that the financial damage reached into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The company traced much of this increase to the aftermath of TracFone's acquisition approval, when the FCC required Verizon to adopt a 60-day lock period for that subsidiary as a condition of the deal. Following that policy change, Verizon claimed a 55% spike in device-related fraud.
Before this week's revision, all major US wireless carriers were required to unlock postpaid devices once fully paid off, and prepaid phones no later than one year after activation. Verizon's 60-day exception stood as an outlier – one that the company insisted had made its network disproportionately vulnerable.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr said that the decision reflects not only economic but also criminal concerns. He noted that networks exploiting early unlocking rules have been linked to global criminal activity, including drug trafficking and human smuggling operations. The Commission characterized the changes as part of a broader push to curb the secondary market circulation of stolen or fraudulently obtained devices.