That's not a realistic expectation. Nor is it realistic that claiming you have the most coverage doesn't mean good coverage or even coverage on every square inch of the continental US.
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Verizon No Longer Plans to Sell Unlocked iPhones
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Verizon plans to stop selling unlocked smartphones as a way to deter criminals from stealing the devices, the company told CNET.
As of today, Verizon devices will be locked to the Verizon network and unlocked as soon as a customer signs up for service and activates the phone. Later in the spring, though, smartphones will remain locked until unlocked by Verizon, and Verizon has not yet shared details on how long it will keep phones locked before offering to unlock them.
Verizon previously sold all of its smartphones, iPhones included, unlocked, which means they were not tied to the Verizon network and could be used with any carrier right after purchase.
Purchasing a Verizon iPhone has long been a way to get an unlocked device right away, as Apple often does not sell its own unlocked models until several weeks to several months after a new iPhone launches.
With the iPhone X, for example, all Verizon models sold in November were unlocked and were able to be used across different cellular networks.
Going forward, the smartphones that Verizon sells will be locked to the Verizon network. Smartphones locked this way will not be compatible with other carriers until unlocked by Verizon, which is similar to how other cellular carriers in the United States operate.
According to Verizon, the new policy is aimed at preventing criminals from stealing unlocked phones that can be resold or used overseas. "We're taking steps to combat this theft and reduce fraud, Tami Erwin, executive vice president of wireless operations for Verizon told CNET in a statement. "These steps will make our phones exponentially less desirable to criminals.
Verizon has not yet shared details on how its unlocking policy will work, but if it's like other carriers, such as AT&T, the company will offer to unlock a smartphone after a waiting period. AT&T requires customers to wait for 60 days, Sprint requires customers to wait for 50 days (and then automatically unlocks devices), and T-Mobile has a 40-day waiting period, but does offer temporary unlocking for customers who need to travel.
AT&T and Sprint require smartphones to be paid off before being unlocked, but CNET says Verizon will allow customers to unlock their devices regardless of whether or not they're paid off once the waiting period has expired.
Article Link: Verizon No Longer Plans to Sell Unlocked iPhones
Um, why doesn’t anyone mention that Verizon is legally obligated to sell their phones unlocked (GSM side anyways) due to the agreement they made with the US government when they got a bunch of wireless spectrum a couple years ago?
There is no time limit on the agreement, that is, it is supposed to last forever, no they are breaking the LAW by no upholding their end of the agreement.
And just for fun, let’s say that they are trying to stop crime, are they the police now? Do they know more than any other government on Earth? Like, you know in Canada, the UK and other countries phones are sold unlocked every day, are they contributing to world wide crime by doing this? Oh the horror....
In reality Verizon is making up excuses to not fulfill their agreement with the US government so they can rip off American consumers.
And what a surprise it’s happening when one of their “former” attorneys is head of the FCC and is doing everything he can to screw the American consumer so corporations can get more wealthy?
It's their property until a consumer buys it so they can try to curb theft and should be able to. As far as the wall of text goes loom at the Verizon friendly FCC boss and see how likely anything will happen
No, they made an agreement to sell unlocked phones, so if they decide not to follow the agreement they should be forced to give back the wireless spectrum.
Also your statement is incorrect, they agreed to sell the phones unlocked, so they must do that. To say it is their property until they sell it is just making excuses that are not based on facts, the fact being they made a legal agreement to sell unlocked phones and by not doing so they are now breaking the law.
And seriously how prevalent is this “theft” they speak of and why does it only occur in the US? Other countries sell unlocked iPhones and you don’t hear them whining about theft and crime. Only Verizon wants to hurt consumers and lies about this so it can reneg on a legal deal.
Why do you defend them so much? Do you believe their lies and have no respect for the law? Do you believe companies should be able to do whatever they want as long as they say it is to deter theft and crime, even if it means they are breaking the law themselves?
Since they are breaking the law, your support shows that you yourself support their criminal behavior. I for one don’t think they are above the law and believe they should be held accountable for their actions.
Yeah so? You act like Verizon doesn't act like any other company. If you don't want to get screwed by a corporation go live under a rock. They agree to whatever but it's up to the government to decide to punish or not to punish them. Guess what jaywalking us illegal in the city of New York but yet we all do it all the time and a 0% of getting a ticket for it. Cops all the times flash lights at red lights to go through them. There is countless laws being broken and not being enforced. Oh you want the spectrum taken back? That would be a bigger issue then a locked phone would be for Verizon customers. I now would be paying for a service I can't use and would. Need to find a other carrier.
You act like t-mobile, AT&T are the saviors. They all do the same crap and go for themselves first.
As a former Verizon customer this move is to make it harder for customers to leave and use the phone on other carriers. I dumped Verizon since T-Mobile is as good if not better and without the price increase on top of video throttling BS.
I wouldn't call it total BS. For mobile use i find it tolerable. T-Mobile coverage is spotty(home use) for me last time I used them (2015 or 2016?) in Brooklyn NY. I also get better speeds on Verizon even on the pre paid unlimited plan I never get throttled using over 60gb if data. Good luck with their customer service because it's outright horrible. The only one whose worse is Sprints lol. I have used all 4 major carriers within the last 6 years.
I would've tolerated the price increase alone but Verizon crossed the BS threshold when they throttled video then charged extra to unthrottle on top of the other price increase.
Verizon was good when I switched to them in 2011 but a lot changed since then. I get reception in places I frequent with T-mobile that I don't get with Verizon and throughput is faster with T-mobile. Granted it varies by location but for me T-mobile > Verizon > AT&T > Sprint.
Who needs support for something so simple? Just pay your bill and use the service. The only time I need to call support is to disconnect service.
I don’t think Apple or any carrier should be policing where people take their phones or what they want to do. Instead, if they find a purchase suspicious, then refuse to sell. Once you make the sale, unless a payment agreement is needed, they should let the users do whatever they want. If a customer wants to change, then that’s feedback to the carrier.
The idea that locking is to prevent theft, is not nothing but a load of nothing good. The carriers does it to prevent customers to switching too soon. It forces customer to stay with the carrier as purchasing another Phone (or phones) would be far too expensive.
Why would anyone do that when it is way more profitable to buy a car on contract, drive somewhere else and sell it at a bigger profit. No need for a plane ticket too.
Because for those types of limited edition cars like the Porsche 918 you have to pony up the $800,000 and then sell it to someone who can afford your mark up? It may happen, but I would think it's very difficult to quantify the universe of those who do such things. Also driving a car such as this and putting miles on it, will cause the value to plummet.
As long as there is service worldwide and not necessarily in every allley and mountain in the world.
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In that case and logic, they should immediately unlock the phone as soon as we finish buying it. But I see your point. A lot of users must understand that you only own it fully once you fully pay it.
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Figures! You sell them. It’s not in your best interest to have unsatisfied customers leaving. Instead let’s convince everyone there’s a widespread theft problem and Verizon is protecting us
As long as there is service worldwide and not necessarily in every allley and mountain in the world.
[doublepost=1528583261][/doublepost]
In that case and logic, they should immediately unlock the phone as soon as we finish buying it. But I see your point. A lot of users must understand that you only own it fully once you fully pay it.
[doublepost=1528583853][/doublepost]
Figures! You sell them. It’s not in your best interest to have unsatisfied customers leaving. Instead let’s convince everyone there’s a widespread theft problem and Verizon is protecting us
Excuse me? There is a theft problem. Just this month we had someone come in and steal two iphones off the wall, another store had an armed robbery in a neighboring district, and three other stores had groups of guys come in and steal all the phones off the walls. Yes, there is a problem, and since the police can't seem to stop if, Verizon is taking it into their own hands. If you don't know what you're talking about, then you should say anything at all. I'm sorry that everyone is butthurt by it, but luckily they care more about our safety than how people on a forum feel. If you want an unlocked phone, go to Apple.
Are those theft numbers meaningfully different when compared to devices for/from other carriers?
Oh so you’re saying now it’s the Police fault your stores don’t get protected? Look I don’t don’t mind locking the phones before purchase, but once the user fully paid for the device, then no company should sabotage the freedom of switching or deciding to have multiple plans, etc. Therefore, if I own my iPhone, then I get to have full control as to how I want to use it. Is there really anything wrong with asking for proper ownership?
Locking phones has bene proven to have no real affect on theft use of these devices.
What does stop the use of stolen devices is a list of IEMI's that are maintained of stolen devices that can be black listed from accessing the network.
The failing of the narrative "locked devices avoid theft" doesn't hold up, if you can continue to use a stolen device on their network under a different account (just change the SIM!)
ultimately. the ONLY purpose for carrier locking is to lock you the consumer to their services. when your contract is up, if the device in your hand will not work for competition and it's prohibitively expensive to unlock and change, than as a consumer you are more likely to remain with your current provider.
Locking cell phones is the carriers attempt at their "eco system lock in". absolutely nothing more.
in Canada, the CRTC recently studied this issue and confronted the providers as to why they do this. They eventually ruled that there's no valid consumer reason to lock phones to a carrier and have regulated that the providers CANNOT sell locked phones. http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/crtc-wireless-code-cellphone-1.4161711
At the end of the day, the ONLY defense that the carriers had was that if they didn't charge an unlocking fee, they'd just pass the expense to all consumers. THe CRTC fought back. This argument too doesn't hold up because the phones are locked by the carrier. So if the carrier never locked the phone in the first place, they wouldn't have to unlock phones, and therefore the entire argument about costs is moot.
Carriers Locking phones is nothing more than hostage taking of your device and should be considered illegal everywhere.
What does stop the use of stolen devices is a list of IEMI's that are maintained of stolen devices that can be black listed from accessing the network.
The failing of the narrative "locked devices avoid theft" doesn't hold up, if you can continue to use a stolen device on their network under a different account (just change the SIM!)
ultimately. the ONLY purpose for carrier locking is to lock you the consumer to their services. when your contract is up, if the device in your hand will not work for competition and it's prohibitively expensive to unlock and change, than as a consumer you are more likely to remain with your current provider.
Locking cell phones is the carriers attempt at their "eco system lock in". absolutely nothing more.
in Canada, the CRTC recently studied this issue and confronted the providers as to why they do this. They eventually ruled that there's no valid consumer reason to lock phones to a carrier and have regulated that the providers CANNOT sell locked phones. http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/crtc-wireless-code-cellphone-1.4161711
At the end of the day, the ONLY defense that the carriers had was that if they didn't charge an unlocking fee, they'd just pass the expense to all consumers. THe CRTC fought back. This argument too doesn't hold up because the phones are locked by the carrier. So if the carrier never locked the phone in the first place, they wouldn't have to unlock phones, and therefore the entire argument about costs is moot.
Carriers Locking phones is nothing more than hostage taking of your device and should be considered illegal everywhere.
I am with Verizon and bought my phone from the Apple Store. It is unlocked. I haven't had a contract with Verizon for about 10 years now. First time I had an unlocked phone was an Android phone and went to Verizon and told them to unlock it. They didn't really want to but they did.
Can anyone verify if Verizon iPhones are locked now? I've decided to get an X, but they are not available at the Apple store any more, and I surely don't want a locked version.
The Apple store just says they are still available at authorized resellers.
Most all the carriers are advertising them for $900, but I am not confident the kids working there will know for sure about the carrier locks.
Thanks
Michael
The Apple store just says they are still available at authorized resellers.
Most all the carriers are advertising them for $900, but I am not confident the kids working there will know for sure about the carrier locks.
Thanks
Michael
Source? Verizon seems to disagree with you:
https://www.verizon.com/about/consumer-safety/device-unlocking-policy
4G Device Policy
We do not lock our 4G devices, other than our 4G Phone-in-the-Box Prepaid phones. Our 4G Phone-in-a-Box phones may only be used with Verizon Prepaid service for 1 year from original activation date or until payments in the amount specified on the back of the Phone-in-a-Box package are added to the Prepaid account. This is to partially offset the subsidy we provide to make our 4G Phone-in-the-Box Prepaid phones more affordable to customers.
Once either of the criteria above is satisfied, you can dial *611 from your Verizon Wireless Prepaid phone or call 888.294.6804 and we will provide you with programming instructions so you can unlock your phone. If the user guide for your phone does not provide instructions to access the programming menu, we can help you with that as well.
...
Postpay devices
- We do not lock our 4G LTE devices and no code is needed to program them for use with another carrier.
- We do not lock our 3G devices, other than non-iPhone 3G World Devices. The simple code to program such 3G devices for use with another carrier is either “000000” or “123456.” If the user guide for your device does not provide instructions to access the programming menu, dial *611 from your Verizon Wireless phone or call 800.922.0204 for assistance.
- The SIM cards used in our non-iPhone 3G World Devices are locked. We will unlock the SIM card for you at your request.