Verizon Now Requires a Full Year of Service to Unlock Phones
▼ Summary
– Verizon’s TracFone division now enforces a 365-day lock period on new phones, following an FCC waiver of the previous 60-day automatic unlocking requirement.
– This change returns TracFone to its pre-Verizon acquisition policy, as the 60-day rule was a merger condition after Verizon bought the company in 2021.
– Customers must now request an unlock and maintain a full year of paid, active service; eligibility is delayed if service lapses.
– The new stringent policy also applies to several other Verizon-owned prepaid brands, including Straight Talk, SafeLink, and Simple Mobile.
– Verizon’s other prepaid brand, Visible, has similarly updated its policy to require 365 days of paid service for unlocking.
Verizon has significantly tightened its device unlocking policy for phones purchased through its TracFone division, now mandating a full year of paid service before a customer can request an unlock. This major shift comes just one week after the Federal Communications Commission waived a previous rule that forced Verizon to automatically unlock phones after 60 days of activation. The change effectively reinstates a year-long lock policy that was in place before Verizon acquired TracFone, marking a substantial rollback of consumer flexibility for prepaid customers.
The previous 60-day unlocking mandate was a condition tied to Verizon’s spectrum licenses and its approval to purchase TracFone. The new policy requires customers to actively request an unlock after completing 365 days of paid and active service. If a customer’s service lapses at any point during that year, the clock pauses, delaying their eligibility until they reactivate and accumulate a full year of paid days. This replaces the old system where unlocks happened automatically without any customer request.
This policy reversal returns TracFone to a framework similar to its pre-Verizon acquisition stance. The company had originally agreed to provide unlocking in a 2015 settlement with the FCC, which addressed failures to unlock devices for customers in the Lifeline subsidy program. The 60-day period was a concession made during the merger process. A locked phone is restricted to a single carrier’s network, whereas an unlocked device can be switched to any compatible carrier, offering consumers greater freedom and choice.
The updated terms are now live on TracFone’s website, stating clearly that for phones activated on or after January 20, 2026, the unlock will only occur “upon request after 365 days of paid and active service.” This stringent requirement means customers must maintain continuous, paid service for an entire year to qualify, a significant commitment for prepaid users who often value flexibility.
The change doesn’t only affect the TracFone brand. It also applies to all other prepaid brands under the Verizon umbrella, including Straight Talk, Net10 Wireless, Clearway, Total Wireless, Simple Mobile, SafeLink Wireless, and Walmart Family Mobile. Importantly, customers who purchased their phones before this policy update are grandfathered in and remain eligible for the older 60-day automatic unlock.
Furthermore, Verizon’s other prepaid brand, Visible, has simultaneously enacted an identical policy. Visible now also requires “at least 365 days of paid service” for an unlock, with the same stipulation that the progress pauses if service payments stop. This coordinated move across Verizon’s prepaid portfolio standardizes a much longer locking period, directly impacting how customers can use their devices after purchase. For consumers, this means carefully considering the long-term commitment before buying a phone from these brands, as the path to an unlocked device is now considerably longer and more restrictive.
(Source: Ars Technica)
