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AT&T Early Termination Fee Skyrockets to $325 for Smartphone and Netbook Users

by Terrence O'Brien on May 24, 2010 at 12:45 PM

AT&T ETF skyrocketsAT&T made some significant changes to to its early termination fees (ETF) this weekend. The good news: if you buy "basic and quick messaging" phones, the ETF has been lowered to $150. And that fee will be reduced by $4 every month for the life of your contract -- a price drop of $25 over the term of a two-year contract. It may not be a huge discount, but it's a welcome one.

Now, the bad news: purchasers of smartphones and netbooks, including the iPhone, will see their ETF skyrocket from $175 to $325. That's still less than Verizon, which doubled its ETF on smartphones last year to $350, but such a significant jump in price has us cringing, nevertheless. The smartphone ETF will also be prorated, dropping by $10 per month over the life of the contract.

We're not sure whether or not AT&T is seeing an unusually high number of smartphone customers ditching their contracts early, but the move seems clearly aimed at making it much more unpleasant for iPhone owners and the like to leave the provider before their contracts expire. Nothing changes for current customers, unless they choose to renew their contract. [From: AT&T, via: Engadget]

Tags: apple iphone, AppleIphone, att, cellphone, cellphones, cellphoneservice, EarlyTerminationFee, etf, iphone etf, IphoneEtf, smartphone, top

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