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This is still a thing in the US?
Canada abolished that crap years ago... Phones are sold unlocked, and any remaining locked phones are required to be unlocked free of charge just by asking the Carrier.
It's only a thing if you are on some form of lease plan where you don't own it outright. Pretty much every carrier in the US sells phones on a monthly payment for the device, which usually is just the cost of the device spread over 30 months, etc. While the device is still not paid off its carrier locked. After its paid off you need to jump through a few hoops but it's honestly not too hard. I'm not sure what the FCC is hoping to accomplish here, it's a similar arrangement to leasing/financing a vehicle, where the dealership holds the title till it's bought/paid off.
I imagine people will have to start purchasing their phones outright. This will probably affect the lower class' purchasing power disproportionately, but personally, I don't see a problem with saving to buy rather than purchasing "on credit" so to say.
I think that would also see an eventual reduction in device costs eventually as more people will be unable to pay the premium costs of a flagship device. Or the mid tier devices will start selling more, androids popularity will probably rise too, matching the rest of the world
Certainly corporations will have to find a way to provide more affordable options until they can figure out another way to assure investors of the "infinite" wealth growth plan.