Verizon adds new rules, making leaving harder for customers

Verizon has been struggling to clasp loyal customers pursuing caller terms hikes and expanding contention successful the wireless industry. Amid those pressures, the institution has made a large argumentation alteration that makes it harder for customers to chopped ties and determination to different carrier.

Last month, Verizon received support from the Federal Communications Commission to waive a regularisation requiring it to automatically unlock a telephone it sells to a lawsuit aft 60 days, contempt backlash from consumers and advocacy groups who labeled Verizon’s petition arsenic “anti-consumer behavior.”

Verizon was archetypal required to comply with the regularisation successful 2008, aft it acquired licenses to usage 700 MHz spectrum. The request was reaffirmed erstwhile Verizon purchased TracFone successful 2021. Verizon argued that the telephone unlocking regularisation has contributed to “device fraud” and made phones little affordable for low-income consumers.

The FCC confirmed that Verizon saw a spike successful fraud aft the regularisation took effect, and its stolen handsets person adjacent been resold connected the acheronian web astatine premium prices successful aggregate countries.

“By waiving a regularisation that incentivized atrocious actors to people 1 peculiar carrier’s handsets for theft, we present person a azygous manufacture modular that tin assistance stem the travel of handsets into the achromatic market,” said FCC Chair Brendan Carr successful a property release.

Shortly aft receiving support to person the regularisation waived, Verizon updated its instrumentality unlock argumentation for its prepaid brands connected Jan. 20. Devices purchased from Total Wireless, Visible, StraightTalk and Tracfone are present lone unlocked upon petition aft 365 days of paid and progressive work and if respective conditions are met.

More recently, Verizon besides tweaked its instrumentality unlock argumentation for postpaid telephone customers, a alteration the institution claims it implemented connected Jan. 27, according to a caller study from Ars Technica.

Postpaid phones purchased from Verizon volition beryllium automatically unlocked erstwhile paid successful full, meaning customers won’t beryllium capable to power to different bearer if they person a remaining balance.

However, if a lawsuit pays disconnected the instrumentality online oregon successful the My Verizon App, the unlocking process volition beryllium delayed by 35 days.

This hold besides applies if a lawsuit uses a nonsecure outgo method specified arsenic a Verizon acquisition card, insubstantial cheque oregon magnetic stripe swipe to acquisition oregon wage disconnected the device. For concern customers, measure credits are besides considered nonsecure outgo methods. Verizon claims that this determination volition assistance forestall fraud.

Related: Verizon’s large web outage sparks caller fallout aft backlash

Previously, the 35-day waiting play applied lone to customers who utilized a Verizon acquisition paper arsenic a outgo method.

To dodge this waiting period, customers indispensable wage disconnected the equilibrium of the instrumentality with a unafraid outgo specified arsenic a recognition paper with an EMV chip, currency oregon contactless payment, but it has to beryllium astatine a Verizon store.

It is besides important to enactment that customers should not brushwood a waiting play to person their telephone unlocked if they wage it disconnected via automatic monthly payments connected a instrumentality plan.

Even though Verizon claims it updated its argumentation connected Jan. 27, the alteration wasn’t unrecorded connected its website until Feb. 11, according to Ars Technica. This means Verizon volition use the caller rules to transactions that occurred earlier the argumentation alteration was posted connected its website.

The study besides states that the 35-day waiting play applies careless of erstwhile the instrumentality was purchased.

The determination from Verizon comes aft it saw an influx of caller wireless customers. During the 4th fourth of 2025, Verizon welcomed 616,000 caller postpaid telephone customers, according to its latest net report.

Despite this success, the institution saw its postpaid telephone churn, the magnitude of postpaid telephone customers who canceled their service, scope 0.95%, which is higher than the 0.88% churn it reported for the aforesaid 4th successful 2024. The company’s operating income besides declined by 32.6% twelvemonth implicit year.

During an net telephone past month, Verizon CEO Dan Schulman chiefly attributed the elevated churn to “prior pricing actions arsenic good arsenic competition” and said determination are 4 reasons wherefore customers are leaving the company.

More Telecom News:

• T-Mobile drops 2 caller telephone plans to halt customers from fleeing

• Verizon CEO shifts gears aft 2.25 cardinal customers depart

• AT&T closes billion-dollar acquisition to triumph backmost customers

“It’s terms increases without corresponding value,” said Schulman. “That conscionable irritates immoderate customers, and we've seen the churn emergence arsenic a effect of that, and we've stopped doing that, and we're going to commencement adding worth to it.”

“Second is friction successful the process, whether it's onboarding, the billing,” helium continued. “When they telephone our lawsuit service, that needs to beryllium flawless, and we request to trim complexity, and we request to code that. We already person initiatives underway to code each and each 1 of those things. And past there's terms cognition and competitory intensity.”

While galore consumers person been switching to different accepted carriers, specified arsenic T-Mobile and AT&T, for lower-priced telephone plans, they person besides been joining smaller wireless carriers, specified arsenic mobile virtual web operators (MVNOs).

Cable companies specified arsenic Comcast and Spectrum person besides been gaining caller telephone customers done their bundled phone, TV and net offers.

Jeff Kagan, an manufacture analyst, said that the telecom manufacture is rapidly changing owed to a “renewed absorption and energy” astatine these companies.

“New competitors, caller technologies, and caller selling approaches volition proceed to reshape this industry,” said Kagan. “The question is what enactment successful this assemblage volition look similar 5 oregon 10 years from now.”

As much consumers research nontraditional telephone work options, a Market Force Information survey past twelvemonth recovered that Verizon is failing to surpass smaller wireless carriers successful user satisfaction.

• About 65% of U.S. consumers are enrolled successful telephone plans from Verizon, T-Mobile, oregon AT&T, and pay, connected average, over $100 per period for service.

• Verizon customers walk an mean of $157 per period on telephone service, the highest among its apical competitors.

• Verizon has a 40% overall marque show people crossed cardinal lawsuit acquisition metrics.

• Smaller wireless carriers outperformed larger ones, with Consumer Cellular astatine 73% rating and Mint Mobile scoring 65.8%.

• In user loyalty rankings, Verizon fell below the 25th percentile, ranking adjacent the lower tier of providers. By contrast, smaller carriers including Consumer Cellular, Mint Mobile and Google Fi, ranked above the 75th percentile.
  Source: Market Force Information

In a property release, David Murray, elder manager of lawsuit strategy astatine Market Force Information, said that “superior lawsuit experiences” are what much consumers nationwide are seeking from their wireless providers.

"While outgo and sum are ever cardinal factors, today's consumers are placing much value connected easiness of work and wide restitution with their provider,” said Murray.  “The apical performers are mounting the barroom successful some lawsuit acquisition and loyalty."

Related: T-Mobile drops 2 caller telephone plans to halt customers from fleeing

This communicative was primitively published by TheStreet connected Feb 19, 2026, wherever it archetypal appeared successful the Retail section. Add TheStreet arsenic a Preferred Source by clicking here.