Verizon acknowledges "pain" of new unlock policy, suggests change is coming

Ars Technica · Feb 18, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Skip to content Locked phones Report: Verizon’s goal is “immediate unlock for all payment methods really soon.” Following our report last week that Verizon is forcing people to wait 35 days for phone unlocks after paying off device installment plans, Verizon is apparently trying to eliminate the inconvenient delay. But Verizon hasn’t confirmed the plan to Ars, and a statement to another news outlet did not provide any timeline for implementing the change. As a refresher, the latest version of Verizon’s device unlocking policy for postpaid customers imposes a 35-day waiting period when a customer pays off the remaining balance of a device installment plan online, in the Verizon app, or with a Verizon gift card. There’s also a 35-day waiting period after paying off an installment plan over the phone or at a Verizon Authorized Retailer. Saying restrictions are needed to counter fraud, Verizon will only unlock a phone immediately when someone pays off their device-plan balance at a Verizon corporate store or when someone pays off an installment plan on schedule via automatic payments. If you’re partway into one of Verizon’s 36-month device installment plans and pay off the remaining balance early, but without making a trip to a Verizon corporate store, you’d have to wait 35 days for an unlock that would allow you to switch the phone to a different carrier’s network. Verizon reportedly said it is trying to change that “really soon,” but provided no specific or even estimated rollout date. Android Authority reported yesterday that it received a statement from Verizon saying, “we’ve already rolled out immediate unlocking for customers who pay at our corporate stores or use automated payment methods, since those systems can validate transactions in real-time. For other channels such as our app or authorized retailers, the 35-day window is strictly focused on fraud prevention, ensuring payments are fully cleared. That said, we recognize this is a pain point for our customers and our goal is to provide an immediate device unlock for all payment methods really soon. Our teams are diligently working to bridge that gap and we’ll update the website/policy when this is possible.” FCC let Verizon lock phones for longer Verizon did not mention this plan when we contacted the company’s public relations team on Friday. At the time, Verizon confirmed the current policy but didn’t say whether it had any plans to change it. We contacted Verizon again yesterday morning and today about the statement reported by Android Authority and have not received a response. Until recently, Verizon had the most consumer-friendly unlocking policy of the major nationwide wireless carriers in the US. This was because of rules imposed on Verizon’s 700 MHz spectrum licenses and merger conditions on the firm’s purchase of TracFone, which resulted in phones being unlocked after 60 days. Verizon used to sell phones that were already unlocked, but in 2019, it obtained a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission allowing it to lock phones for 60 days to deter fraud. Verizon subsequently claimed that even the 60-day period wasn’t long enough to stop fraud, and last month received another waiver that lifted the unlocking requirement. Confusing rollout Verizon started overhauling its unlocking policies after receiving the latest waiver, and the rollout has been confusing. When the new policy was put online with an effective date of January 27, it applied the 35-day delay only to cases in which a customer uses a Verizon gift card to buy a phone or pay off the remaining balance. As we reported, Verizon last week changed that language on the policy page to apply the 35-day delay in more scenarios, but did not change the January 27 effective date. The Verizon statement quoted by Android Authority yesterday said the full terms were presented to customers starting on January 27 even though those terms weren’t fully described on the webpage. “Regarding the website update timing, the new device unlocking policy went into effect on January 27th,” the Verizon statement said. “Customers purchasing or upgrading from that date were (and are being) presented with the full terms of the new policy at their point of sale. We’ll make sure all our public-facing info is also clear and consistent across channels.” Wrong terms still presented to phone buyers But information still is not “clear and consistent across channels,” even when it comes to terms presented directly to phone buyers. For example, the version of the device unlocking policy on Verizon’s webpage for ordering an iPhone 17 says the 35-day delay only applies when a customer uses a Verizon gift card to buy a phone or pay off the remaining balance. We found the same language today in Verizon’s listings for other iPhones and devices made by Google, Samsung, and Motorola. This version of the policy presented to phone buyers would lead a consumer to believe that a phone will be unlocked automatically once the device financing agreement balance is paid in full, as long as a gift card isn’t used. That is not accurate, as we described in this article and our article last week. The Verizon unlocking policy discussed so far in this article is for postpaid customers. Verizon’s policy for prepaid customers locks phones to its network “until the completion of 365 days of paid and active service.” AT&T’s unlocking policy says postpaid phones purchased at least 60 days ago can be unlocked when the device is paid in full. The T-Mobile policy says postpaid phones active on the T-Mobile network for at least 40 days can be unlocked after being paid in full. AT&T imposes a six-month waiting period for unlocking prepaid phones, while T-Mobile has a 365-day waiting period for prepaid phones. Jon is a Senior IT Reporter for Ars Technica. He covers the telecom industry, Federal Communications Commission rulemakings, broadband consumer affairs, court cases, and government regulation of the tech industry. 9 Comments