Even with the FCC having the Carriers (and Google) submit responses to an investigation, early termination fees on a Carrier such as Verizion may not fall below the $350 fee anytime soon.
Verizon cited higher operational costs & support fees for certain smart phones. (Yup, they really charge $350 for ETF on some smart phones, read your contracts people!) Wow – $350?! Aren’t users of smartphones paying higher monthly fees for their data plans and higher voice plans? ARPU for data plans among Carriers has increased quarter by quarter in 2009, with Verizon leading the way an ARPU on data alone at $15.59, which is over 30% of a total revenue contribution from a Verizon user. (Source: Chetan Sharma). Here is the original letter the FCC sent to the all the Carriers and Google on Jan 26, 2010 – their responses were due yesterday and a few blogs I’ve read suggest that Verizon’s tone was a bit snooty! Here is the AP News on yesterday’s response by the Carriers & Googly Google. What do you think? Is the early termination fee fair?