FCC questions Verizon Wireless about its new $350 early termination fee
The FCC has taken notice of Verizon Wireless’ new $350 early termination fee that applies to all advanced devices purchased after November 15th, 2009. The governmental agency sent an inquiry letter to Verizon Wireless asking them answer several questions regarding this increased fee. The questionnaire focuses on Verizon Wireless’ disclosure of the ETF to customers and the rationale behind the increase. The FCC also does the math and calculates that a customer with a $350 ETF will still have $120 fee remaining after 23 months into a 24 month contract. It then asks the loaded question, “If the ETF is meant to recoup the wholesale cost of the phone over the life of the contract, why does a $120 ETF apply?” Verizon also gets hit up about the $1.99 fee it charges customers for inadvertently accessing the Mobile Web, and is asked to explain the terms and conditions of such access. Naughty, naughty Verizon has until December 17th to provide its answers.
[Via WSJ]
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@ Perfect time to Switch To AT&T …..you literally have no idea what you are talking about. It has already been established Sprint has the fastest 3g…VZW has the most reliable and AT&T….well we all have seen their map before they pulled it from their website.
If CDMA doesn’t work international then why do CDMA phones work in China….and South America; among other places.
Obviously a fanboy who does not look at their information before posting.
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First, the ETF is meant to dissuade those people out there (you know who you are) who take advantage of the BOGO’s that happen (as with storm2 and droid and droid eris going on right now). These people will open a second line of service, get a free device, turn around and sell it for $400 or $500 on ebay, and after the $175 etf, are still making a nice profit. VZW has then subsidized a $500 phone for that customer and lost out on the contract that helps make up that subsidy. Keep in mind, you never have to have an ETF. Its called paying full retail price on a phone. Also, you are not charged $1.99 unless you navigate past the home page on the mobile web, so for all you people who say you backed out as soon as you entered the mobile web and still got charged, not true!! VZW has not charged unless navigating past the home page for mobile web for over a year.
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“Keep in mind, you never have to have an ETF.”
This is not true. Try starting new service with Verizon OR ATT and using your own equipment. They will still require a 1 to 2 year commitment (1 for VZW and 2 for ATT).
Think about the term for a moment: EARLY Termination Fee. If you fulfill your contract, you are NOT terminating EARLY. Get it? If you look at the article, they say there would be an $120 charge “after 23 months of a 24 month contract”, hence terminating early…
Anyone who thinks the FCC will quickly and fairly resolve ANYTHING hasn’t been following along.
If all the new smartphones being released on AT&T are running 7.2 hsdpa then why is the 9700 showing at 3.6 hsdpa? (per phone scoop)
VZW LTE coming in 2010, We should see newer faster phones. Possible iphone?
350 is for all the people that come in and want to test drive these phones, that is why they started with the $35 restocking fee.
@ Fan….. If you are sitting on your computer in the USA!!! You should be the last one complaining about global availability…. and the crude comment afterwards shows your ignorance…
@ SoCaller ….when you start service with VZW using your own equipment you DO NOT** require a contract..you go month to month buddy.
Verizon will win Once the Iphone lite comes to the network.
What good is the speed of ATT’s 3g network if it is spotty. I would rather have slightly slower speed with coverage everywhere than fast speed and only using it someplaces.
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keep the minutes you don’t use…DROID DOESN’T
@JakeyBoy why pay for minuites you dont use. @Fan & @Perfect time to Switch To AT&T you are uneducated and ignorant. CDMA is a much more secure technology and works very well globaly. I agree with @HQH I want reliability not speed in one fifth of the nation….pretty sneaky of AT&T to take down their maps after the Verizon ads…
Yeah! lol…
Man…Go MetroPCS!! Soon they will have the same LTE as VZW and it will be all you can eat most likely.
Fan, I have Verizon KY on my hole…are you still coming over to suck it off! Please be gentle when your sucking my asshole, thanks
Are you kidding me? AT&T is gonna start punishing people who use their iphones. Saying people who are streaming videos and movies are gonna start getting charged more becuase they are hogging the network therefore causing dropped calls! lol
I agree, that termination fee is ridiculous. They already have so many other questionable fees – activation fees, for example, along with all their other hidden fees. I can see them wanting to have SOME penalty for customers who want to skip out early on their contracts, so that people won’t sign up for a new two-year contract just to get a good deal on a phone, and then terminate the contract, having gotten a $100+ phone for free, but $350 is just way too much for a termination fee. Plus, as the original post pointed out, there is $120 left over if someone wants to terminate 23 months into the contract, so the customer who terminates will have paid much more than their phone was probably worth. Verizon has some explaining to do.
If you dont want to pay the $350 ETF, dont buy an advanced device. You can get a plane jane phone and get the $175 ETF. Have you priced phones at full retail? The Storm 2 is $539.99 with no contract with a 2 year contract it is $179.99. The diffrence is $360 hence the $350 ETF. The Moto Entice is $219.99 without contract and on 2 yr contract it is $19.99 a diffrence of $200 hence a $175 ETF…
@ EmilyK…The fees are not ridiculous…keep in mind cellular companies pay a big fee to start your services. It is not free for the company so that is where the fees are coming from. It is a trickle down affect. If you don’t want this and that fee do not get a cell phone. I am not trying to be mean but every cost something.
Even DirecTv has an ETF and you dont buy equipment from them….
Omg at all of you.
This is you
http://tech.msn.com/products/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=19445651&imageindex=6
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Grow up tool.
I lol’d