Carriers need to work out a voluntary agreement...
Carriers need to work out a voluntary agreement on cellphone unlocking or the FCC will step in and regulate, Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a letter Thursday to Steve Largent, president of CTIA. Wheeler preceded Largent as CTIA’s president. The…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
policy must have five separate components, the letter said. Among them, it must “provide a clear, concise, and readily accessible policy on unlocking” and it must unlock phones when the service contract is up. Wheeler said there is only one area of disagreement between the regulator and the wireless association -- a requirement that carriers notify subscribers “when their devices are eligible for unlocking and/or automatically unlock devices when eligible, without an additional fee.” “We are anxious to work with you and your members to resolve this matter expeditiously. Enough time has passed, and it is now time for the industry to act voluntarily or for the FCC to regulate,” Wheeler told Largent. “Let’s set a goal of including the full unlocking rights policy in the CTIA Consumer Code before the December holiday season."