Last year, users started filing complaints with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against Verizon Wireless claiming the carrier was violating its spectrum licensing terms by locking Android phone bootloaders. Verizon agreed to openness provisions when it bought licenses to the Block C bands that currently pump out 4G LTE. Many groups claim Big Red wants to have its cake and eat it too. After taking a few months to ruminate on the issue, Verizon Wireless has responded and, unsurprisingly, it doesn’t see a problem.

According to the carrier, locking bootloaders is good for consumers, and good for the carrier. As such, it has no plans to stop the practice. This is an issue rife with industry lingo and shorthand, and it can be hard to follow. So let’s talk about what a bootloader is, and why Verizon wants to lock yours down.

What is a bootloader?

The bootloader is the first thing that starts up when a phone is turned on. At its most basic level, a bootloader is the low-level software on your phone that keeps you from breaking it. It is used to check and verify the software running on your phone before it loads. Think of it like a security guard scanning all the code to make sure everything is in order. If you were to try to load software onto the phone that was not properly signed by the device vendor, the bootloader would detect that and refuse to install it on the device.

When we speak about locked bootloaders, the context is often used to give meaning to the term “locked.” Almost all phones ship from the factory with locked bootloaders, but some are encrypted as well. It is this encryption that most reports are referring to when using the term “locked.” If a bootloader is encrypted, users can’t unlock it to load custom software of any sort. The device will be restricted to running software ROMs provided by the manufacturer.

Motorola, HTC, and Sony lock and encrypt the bootloaders on nearly all their phones, and Verizon is actually supportive of that policy. The carrier says it will be better this way, and its arguments are likely to fly.

Why Verizon wants your bootloader locked

The original Block C license states that anyone using that swath of the airwaves is required to allow customers to use any software or devices they want. At first blush, it seems like Verizon is in the wrong. However, Verizon has a powerful argument that will probably carry weight with the FCC.

The carrier expresses concern over the potential impact of untested software on its network. Whether or not this is a valid concern, it is something that the FCC stipulated in the original Block C license. A carrier is only required to comply with the openness provision insofar as it does not interfere with “the management or protection of the licensee’s network.” The takeaway is that Verizon Wireless can block users from using software or devices that it has reasonable suspicions would be detrimental.

On the consumer side of things, Big Red says your customer service experience will be better if it locks bootloaders. While seemingly disconnected from reality, the letter goes on to offer a compelling explanation. When a bootloader is not encrypted, and users can unlock it, they are more likely to alter the system software and damage the phone.

Verizon claims it is unable to provide support to users that do this, but that doesn’t stop them from calling. Verizon support has no way of knowing what the capabilities of a particular ROM might be, and certainly don’t have documentation in front of them. The person using the phone might not even be aware that the device has been modified, leading to frustration on both ends.

Next page: How to unlock your bootloader