FCC chief ready to regulate termination fees

[shaggylive]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24796836/

The head of the Federal Communications Commission said Friday he wants to regulate fees charged to cell phone users who cancel their wireless contracts early.At a news conference, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin would not say whether he endorses an industry plan to help consumers avoid "early termination fees" as detailed by The Associated Press earlier this week.
But Martin said he supports regulating the fees at a federal level, even if it affects a series of class-action lawsuits against carriers in state courts.

[Tiberius85]

I dont think customers realize that the early termination fees associated with long term contracts are high are to pay back the subsidies they received on their heavily discounted phone.

[shaggylive]

exactly. ppl don't think about from the right perspective. sometimes it's worth it, sometimes it's not. if there's a plan out there that will save them $50/mo or even $20, then just pay the $175. granted you don't have to spend $$$ on new phone(s).

[[sammich]]

Thats some good news! I wonder who's getting a class-action lawsuit though... hahaha



Oh, and can anyone access google.com? They seems to be down... REALLY weird. Everything else works, but google is out? *shudders*

Doesn't that violate some sort of fundemental law for the proper operation of the internet?

[firebrain]

i highly doubt google is down they have 6x redundancy by me it works fine

[[sammich]]

Originally Posted by firebrain

i highly doubt google is down they have 6x redundancy by me it works fine

Thats whats weird! Its STILL down at my place! I've heard about their redundancy, caching, etc... but I can get to google.com fine, but it won't search anything. It just says keeps loading and times out.

And its not my internet connection - I've got T1.5

-ON TOPIC-

It seems the FCC is wanting to help everyone more, especially with the whole nationwide WiFi network, cancelling out analog signals to clear frequency, helping with WiMax...

Now if they would just let us record certain programs with our DVR's...

[rstoyguy]

Originally Posted by Tiberius85

I dont think customers realize that the early termination fees associated with long term contracts are high are to pay back the subsidies they received on their heavily discounted phone.

Yep, that's why they have it. Carriers discount the phone when you first sign up. If you keep their service for 2 years, they recoup the price of the phone. If not, then that's when they hit ya for the price of the phone.

Of course a prorated ETF would be nice!

[Tiberius85]

Originally Posted by rstoyguy

Yep, that's why they have it. Carriers discount the phone when you first sign up. If you keep their service for 2 years, they recoup the price of the phone. If not, then that's when they hit ya for the price of the phone.

Of course a prorated ETF would be nice!

I think carriers 'pro-rate' it now in the form of halved discounts on new phones on additional 2 year agreements 1 year through the first one. But still, yeah a month to month pro-rate would be excellent.

[TurboFool]

Originally Posted by Tiberius85

I dont think customers realize that the early termination fees associated with long term contracts are high are to pay back the subsidies they received on their heavily discounted phone.

To be fair, this is not ALWAYS the case. Multiple times through my history with Sprint they talked me into extending my contract for reasons NOT related to a new phone. 10% discounts, change in plans, etc. Point is, a subsidized phone is not ALWAYS relevant to each person's two-year-contract. Besides, we're not interested in losing the termination fee altogether. Pro-rating it is much more reasonable.

[Trident]

Originally Posted by Tiberius85

I dont think customers realize that the early termination fees associated with long term contracts are high are to pay back the subsidies they received on their heavily discounted phone.

Which is true if you recently got a heavily discounted phone.
But I've been with Sprint for many years- they extend my contract every time I change plans or get some little discount. If I were to decide to terminate early, I don't think I'd see my 5% discount as a good trade-off for some $150 or more early termination fee.
Good thing I'm not considering leaving them any time soon.

Oops. I guess I should have read the rest of the posts before saying the same thing.