NTIA Supports Limited Handset Locking Waiver for Verizon

NTIA supported a limited waiver for Verizon, allowing it to adopt a temporary, 60-day lock on 4G LTE handsets to ensure only bona fide customers are buying the handsets. It faces special restrictions because of the rules for the 700 C-block spectrum the carrier bought in a 2008 auction (see report, March 6 issue). The FCC took comment on the waiver in April (see 1903050057). “NTIA is sympathetic to Verizon’s concerns around theft and fraud and would not object to short-lived locking of handsets to the extent such locking may be effective in combating the described criminal activities,” said Thursday's letter in docket 06-150. “NTIA urges the Commission, however, to narrowly construct any waiver to avoid adverse impacts on consumer choice and handset portability. Such a waiver should only permit temporary device locking for the minimum duration necessary to mitigate the risk of theft or fraud in a particular instance (which may be shorter than sixty days), and should require Verizon to provide customers with a simple and effective way to request accelerated unlocking.”