I found THIS article interesting.
T-Mobile states, "T-Mobile is passionate about winning customers for life, and explained how its handset unlocking policies greatly benefit our customers.” So they want to be so excellent that they win customers for life, and yet they oppose a rule that would require phones to be unlocked after 60 days.
I imagine that it galls the suits to no end that they cannot lock phones permanently.
The “benefit” to customers is to use the lure of “free” to get them into an over-priced plan that hides the fact that they are paying for the phone in installments. They then dangle another “free” phone when the first is paid off. Rinse and repeat. This also produces sticker shock when customers look for phones from non-carrier sources and see what they actually cost. Most people don’t read contracts before signing, so they don’t have a clue about much of this stuff. I’ve tried to explain to many people that judicious non-carrier phone purchase and carrier plan selection can save a lot of money in the long run. This doesn’t work with people for whom long-run planning means “what do we do for dinner tonight?”
I deal with the locking problem by not buying phones from carriers. I can then shop for the best plan without charges for the phone being hidden in the plan cost and also not have to worry about the charges for the phone continuing after the phone has been paid off.
I don’t follow the new-phone-each-year path. I hold on to a phone until either it gets “broken” by the underlying radio protocols being turned off (1 phone), or it has a hardware failure (2 phones), or it gets stolen (1 phone). One exception was when I got in on the Republic Wireless beta test. That was my first smart phone. I still have a phone I bought from Republic Wireless (outright, no installments) during the early stages of the Dishsaster, which is another exception. It is not locked. I keep it as an emergency spare and for programming my esim.me card.
When I say hardware failure, I mean it. Battery failure gets the battery replaced. (2 phones, one of them twice before hardware failed, also I am not looking forward to dealing with 14 tiny screws to replace my current battery, but it is still cheaper than a new phone.)
The fraud issue is self-inflicted. If carriers would actually enforce the stolen-phone list, and list phones where payments have defaulted as stolen, the problem would largely dry up. Mind you, enforcement of the stolen phone list would have to include playing hardball with international carriers. “Enforce the list or don’t connect to the US.”
Customers already suing TMobile over this.
This is like the new rule supposedly coming into effect to make it easier/more transparent to opt out of accounts. Companies suing against “click to cancel rule.”
Guess who’s suing the FTC to stop ‘click to cancel’
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/23/24278020/ftc-click-to-cancel-subscriptions-rule-lawsuit-telecoms-security-advertising-groups
Gee, I wonder why??
I keep phones too, use little data, and in future only buying direct from carrier. I get caught in missing all of life’s “fine print.”
This is how one ends up with locked phones.
I recently made an exception to my general recommendation of buying only factory unlocked phones. That exception was purchase of a 2024 Moto G 5G from Straight Talk two months ago.
The phone was “free” with purchase of one-month’s service on Straight Talk’s Silver Unlimited plan. Phones sold by Straight Talk (and other TracFone brands) are locked for 60 days and unlock after those 60 days. The 60-day carrier unlock was a condition for Verizon’s acquisition of TracFone brands and applies to Verizon’s other brands such as Visible also.
I allowed Straight Talk service to lapse after 30 days. The phone today automatically unlocked after 60 days with no need for active Straight Talk service beyond the initial 30 days. So, for an investment of roughly $45 (the cost of the initial 30-day Straight Talk plan) and a 60-day wait, I now have a carrier unlocked phone that will work with any compatible network.
Network compatibility of carrier unlocked phones varies and will not necessarily be the same as a phone purchased unlocked from the factory (another reason for sticking with factory unlocked if broad network compatibility is the goal). Since Straight Talk (and other TracFone brands) are owned by Verizon, unsurprisingly, my freshly carrier unlocked 2024 Moto G 5G is working perfectly with MobileX (Verizon network) service. How well it works with providers operating on AT&T’s or T-Mobile’s network remains to be tested.
For me, the 2024 Moto G 5g is intended as a backup for my Pixel. Neither the camera or the screen are top-shelf (nor would I expect them to be) but it is the most capable Moto G series device I’ve owned. It even includes eSIM.
Meant I’ll only buy from manufacturer, not mobile company/carrier. I was fine with 1st Republic phone, it was 2nd purchased just before selloff that caught me up,
Your 60 day locked phone was a good deal.
Noted!
Every rule has its exceptions. 
Given Straight Talk and other TracFone brands use Verizon’s network, I figured once carrier unlocked it would work well on other Verizon network services.
I’ve since also tried an active Tello (T-Mobile network) SIM. As expected and as is often the case even with factory unlocked Android phones, visual voicemail in the default Google Phone app doesn’t work but everything else including WiFi calling seems to do so. I don’t currently have an active AT&T network SIM with which to test but may take a one month flier on these folks.