Add to del.icio.us     Digg this

Feb. 24, 2010

The largest wireless operators in the U.S. are telling the FCC that they give their customers adequate notice about ETFs (early termination fees) that apply when a mobile service contract is cancelled before it expires.

Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile USA and even Google filed their comments with the FCC yesterday in response to an inquiry led by the Commission into early termination fees, and into customer complaints on various overcharges.

The wireless carriers told the agency that such ETFs allow them to subsidize mobile handset and smartphone purchases for their customers.

Additionally, the companies say the wireless industry in the United States is extremely competitive, with a rather high number of national carriers and smaller wireless providers all offering many choices of plans, including prepaid packages with no contract and no early termination fees.

Last month, and without making too much noise, Verizon Wireless has removed 10 handsets from its list of phones subject to a $350 ETF (Early Termination Fee).

So far, no official release has been made by the company on the change, but the wireless carrier’s list of so-called Advanced Devices subject to the fee now appears to include only smartphones and a few netbooks sold by Verizon.

The Advanced Device List filed with the FCC more than four weeks ago contained a number of multimedia phones, including the Motorola Krave, the Samsung Rogue and no less than five LG devices.

Verizon’s current list is stripped of those devices, and the company would not comment further on them.

Verizon Wireless came under FCC scrutiny last December after it doubled its ETFs for netbooks, smartphones and some feature phones. No official action has been taken on the matter as of yet, however.

Verizon’s early termination fee for devices on the Advanced Device List is currently $350, twice that of the fee for devices not on the list. The reason (s) on why Verizon does that are still unclear.

In its December filing with the FCC, Verizon Wireless said “advanced Devices generally have more complex chip sets, CPUs and licensed software that perform more functions than regular phones.”

More specifically, the advanced category includes those devices which feature dual processor chipsets, Wi-Fi and HTML browsers.

It is still unclear whether Verizon has changed its official criteria for the list. A Verizon Wireless spokesman was unable to answer queries about the change.

Add to del.icio.us     Digg this

Source: Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint Nextel.