The biggest wireless carrier in the United States will be activating select unlocked handsets that include Apple’s iPhones, Google’s Nexus 6 (manufactured by Motorola), and other devices that are brought in by mobile users from other rival wireless carriers, that is as long as the phones are compatible with the Big Red’s network.
As reported by FierceWireless, the handsets have to be unlocked before they can be activated on Verizon’s network. In order to complete the process of activating their handsets on Verizon, customers must go to a specific page in the wireless carrier’s website, and key in their device ID (such as an ESN, IMEI, or MEID number) to determine if their phone is qualified to be activated on Verizon’s network. Then they will be required to enter their SIM card ID number, or buy a new SIM card from Verizon Wireless. Having completed all of these steps, Verizon will then offer options for plans for which the handset being brought in is qualified, and then let the customer activate his or her device under that plan.
As told by Albert Aydin, spokesperson of Verizon Wireless, to FierceWireless, the wireless carrier has already started accepting and activating certain non-Verizon handsets, specifically the Nexus 6 smartphone, as well as iOS devices that include the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus devices, and the iPad Air tablet. As of now, there is no complete list yet for which devices exactly are eligible for this new policy, or which ones will be included soon at a later date, but Aydin was quick to note that Verizon Wireless was doing everything it can to include as many handsets as possible.
Phone unlocking is nothing new -- most major wireless carriers in the US now support it, although they have to be explicit in laying out the provisions of their policies on phone unlocking. And it should be noted that unlocking a handset does not necessarily make it compatible with the networks of other wireless carriers. In Verizon’s case, when it bought its 700 MHz spectrum for LTE back in 2008, it agreed to have open access rules, essentially allowing non-Verizon handsets to be activated on its network. But in actuality, there were not many non-Verizon handsets that were configured to support Verizon’s 700 MHz spectrum. But that has changed now as more smartphones are equipped with better technology.
Customers who bring an unlocked handset to Verizon Wireless under the latest policy will only be required to pay for their wireless service, and will not be made to pay any equipment installment fee on the handset considering after all that it is an unlocked phone. For more Verizon deals, you can browse plans and phones from Verizon at Wirefly now.
