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This is stupid. Part of the agreement to allow them to buy a certain spectrum was that they unlocked sims after 60 days.
What’s the point of all this if rules don’t matter?
this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2026
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Not from us and cannot understand why smartphone needs to be bundled with network operators. Those are 2 separate entities and there is no need for one to be dependent on another. You buy a phone you buy a sim.
There's a VERY important distinction here.
The 'unlock' that they are talking about here is to unlock your phone's SIM to be able to be used with another carrier's service.
This does not mean that the bootloader is unlocked and you will not be able to replace the OS. You will still be stuck with Verizon's spyware-laden release of Android even when you move to a new carrier.
So, buy your devices directly from the manufacturer and make sure that the phone supports the ability to unlock (and re-lock!) the bootloader. If you need a recommendation, get a current generation Pixel and install GrapheneOS or if you won't give up Google Play and dependent apps, LineageOS.
The part that gets me is that the unlock is not automatic. I don't like the fact that it is now for a year but now also Verizon has the upper hand to just refuse the unlock to anyone they don't like.
Thanks republicans, very pro consumer, very cool.
It isn't a gun or a fetus so they don't care.
You just made me think of this, has anyone slapped a cell modem onto a gun yet? That sounds like something that would happen here
That may lead to FaaS, though, Firearms as a Subscription.
I saw 'FaaS' and immediately thought Freedom as a Service, which is exactly the tagline such a service would have
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Who didn't need this in their life? I'm so glad the CFPB has also been disemboweled.
They’ll be so happy to tell you how it’s actually your fault for voting for democrats and you better believe them OR ELSE.
(Still applies if you didn’t vote for democrats or even if you aren’t American)
If you're not feeling the freedom and amazing positive effects yet, it's because it's coming. Juuust over the next hill. Alllways over the next hill.
As a reminder to everyone:
If you can afford it, you can 100% just... Buy a phone online and use it with your carrier. Make sure it's carrier unlocked, but yeah. All but one of my phones (bought in an emergency) was bought this way, and I've been through... 5 or 6? carriers and never had an issue
Assuming they let you BYOD. I know T-Mobile does because that's how I do it.
I get used Pixels off eBay for like $200. Carrier unlocked ones like $50 more. But I think only Verizon is the problematic carrier for those.
I have been doing this on Verizon for several years now without a problem.. I don't even tell Verizon I just buy the unlocked phone and switch SIM cards It works perfectly fine
Thats what e-sim is going to ruin. Cant just move your cards around. Now you have to contact the carrier.
Yup. Our family for better or worse is invested in the Apple ecosystem but US iPhones not having physical SIMs is really making me consider switching to Androids the next time we have to get new phones, even if Androids are pretty problematic too.
Graphene OS
Huh?
My old iPhone had a eSIM via Visible. On my new iPhone, I installed the app and logged in then installed the eSIM from there. Done with it all in less than 5 minutes.
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I haven't heard of a carrier that doesn't, at least personally. Then again, I've mostly used smaller carriers. Republic Wireless, FreedomPop, Mint, etc. I did use TMo for a while on a prepaid plan up until I got tired of the texting not working half the time
I bought a refurbished Pixel 6 Pro, carrier unlocked, for around $250. I also switched to an MVNO called Tello, and couldn't be happier. If I should need to switch carriers, it's going to be to another MVNO. I'm done with the major carriers.
Another good MVNO, for privacy, is Phreeli. Louis Rossmann (on YT) created a MVNO which collects no data from you, you can even pay cash-by-mail anonymously and with crypto.
Pretty straight forward value proposition: You pay and they provide phone services, don't sell your data and design their systems around not collecting your data in the first place or, if collected (like payment information) is used for the transactions and deleted.
The only information you provide is a zip code (optional, but ties the phone into your area's 911 system if you're into that kind of thing)
I am not an ad bot(OR AM I?)
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Not with AT&T. Bought a Pixel 9 Pro Fold on a huge sale from Google themselves, but because AT&T doesn't sell it, they couldn't provision it correctly on their network. Went through all the troubleshooting, they sent me a new SIM even. Finally I did my own research online, found a reddit post where someone talked to an employee on some internal AT&T team that said they probably won't ever support it properly since they don't sell it.
So that was frustrating.
Oh that's gross as shit. Seems they have a general BYOD plan, but I guess that only applies if they have that model of phone.
Didn't even realize that could be an issue, given I've used a PinePhone of all things on my carrier and it worked as fine as one could expect mobile Linux to work
Yeah, their BYOD plan works great if they sell the phone you're using. My Pixel 7 I got from the Google Store worked just fine with AT&T for two years before I upgraded. I just didn't even consider whether they sold the device or not to be important to the functionality of the phone.
Anything can be an issue if work hard enough.
This is, conveniently, a decision that discourages their customers from buying hardware from anywhere but themselves an anti-competitive practice which carries little risk of lawsuit, or fine.
It's certainly not a technical problem. We all, mostly, use the same cellular network and other carriers have no trouble supporting devices purchased directly from the vendor.
I'm going to suggest swappa.com for buying unlocked phones a couple generations back at a cheap price. I've been using an s20 I think I picked up for like 150 bucks the last couple years without a problem.. And I just picked up a Pixel 7 to put graphene on so I can you know not have Google up my ass all the time.
It's all significantly cheaper and all you have to do is put your SIM card in the new phone as long as it's unlocked you're good.
I'm more than willing to try any alternatives to swapa it's just the only company that I've used thus far outside of an eBay situation.
I really like swappa for the ability to return the phone to the seller for refund.
In theory eBay also allows this, but since it's a core feature of the swappa marketplace that it gives me comfort that the phone is listed in good faith and they haven't misrepresented the phone.
I suggest it to anyone I know looking for a phone
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Ebay is full of used flagships that cost very little. With enshitification, many of the older flagships are better than what you could get by buying new for the same price.
Also, fuck contracts. I've been using prepaid plans for ages.
Make sure it’s carrier unlocked, but yeah.
I'm all for buying my own phones and not getting one bundled with service. However, many times getting a carrier unlocked phone carries a price premium. As long as you're fine sticking with your current carrier, they can even be carrier locked and work just fine. I agree though, ownership of your phone outside of your carrier's billing is the right way to go.
Well, I wouldn't call it's premium. Unlocked is closer to MSRP, whereas carrier locked is being subsidized by the carrier and whatever requirements they have in place. You'll usually end up paying more in the long run then if you went with unlocked and a MVNO.
You’ll usually end up paying more in the long run then if you went with unlocked and a MVNO.
You're missing a component: you can buy used phones and go with an MVNO and skip the contract subsidy requirement for savings
I purchased a used carrier locked flagship phone for $250 when they were still selling for $1100 as new carrier-unlocked, then put it on my MVNO which is a subsidiary of the primary carrier (so the carrier lock doesn't matter).
You can't get those cost savings with a new contract phone nor a new carrier unlocked phone.
However, many times getting a carrier unlocked phone carries a price premium.
That's a good point. I've started advocating for buying phones lightly used (1-2 generations behind). Until just a couple of months ago, I was rocking a phone from 2019 with no issues. When I upgraded recently, I bought a Pixel 9 from a reseller selling one with an open box and a slight scuff on the bezel (that gets covered by a case anyway). Now I have an almost new phone that works like a dream for almost 75% of what I would get buying it directly from Google.
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Not sure why anyone is still using Verizon.
US Mobile has access to their networks and it's cheaper. Same service. Been with USM for nearly 2 years now. My parents and siblings all switched over too. Moved our numbers over with zero issues.
Verizon not in your area? Cool, USM also has access to T-Mobile and ATT.
People need to learn to shop around, especially in the current economy we're in.
They should be banned from having any unlocking restrictions after they were found to have violated the initial FCC mandates placed on them. Absolutely disgraceful. No accountability.
I jumped in the hot tub with my phone in my pocket last summer and needed a phone and couldn’t really wait for one to ship from a random eBay or swappa seller so I had to go to Best Buy.
They had nothing carrier unlocked that was newer than the 128GB iPhone 15 for $800, refurbished. All else they had was a couple old pixels and galaxies and they weren’t much cheaper.
Policies like impact the poor folks who can’t afford the cash for phones that are unlocked and are stuck paying high monthly service rates.
Imagine buying a PC and you can only use it with Comcast or att internet for the first year, manufactured trash
Trust me, pc manufacturers and Comcast are imagining this.
This is a big deal because this will hit low end customers the hardest. People who shop at Dollar General for their phones.
I remember when relatively speedy device unlocks were mandated. And before then, contracts would basically include the price of the phone in them. Now we have to pay extra for the phone, and it's still not ours. Very cool.
Phones used to be "free" but your bill was higher to cover it. Your bill stayed the same whether you took the "free" phone or not. Now your bill is lower, but buying a phone through the carrier brings it back up. That's been my experience at least.
So if I bought one before that date I am not held to this?
Use swappa.com or some other way to buy unlocked phones and never have to deal with Verizon's BS again. You can have the service with no phone issues.
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