Earlier we had reported that the FCC would be reaching an agreement with wireless carriers on an unlocking policy for subscribers. Well it turns out that shortly after that report was revealed, it has since been announced that a deal had already been struck and for those interested, some of the agreed upon terms has been posted on the CTIA’s website in the form of a PDF document. This deal covers five carriers in the US, such as AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular, with the terms of the agreement expected to be implemented in the next 12 months, and while the deal has been struck, it is unclear as to what will happen to customers who might try to unlock their phones before the end of the contract.
The unlocking of cellphones has been a hotly contested topic as of late, especially with a ruling made earlier this year in which it would be considered illegal for customers to unlock their cellphones, which many felt was silly since it would make it hard to travel overseas or to switch carriers upon the end of their contract. It has since been petitioned with the FCC chairman vowing to investigate the matter, which we guess he did. Either way at least now there are clearer steps that one can take in order to unlock their cellphones without any legal consequence.
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