Verizon Wireless is proposing new termination fees for customers who cancel their cell phone service.
Verizon Wireless already prorates the early termination fees, reducing them as customers' contracts get closer to be expiring. AT&T is scheduled to begin prorating the fees starting on Sunday. Sprint Nextel has clearly indicated it will do so by the end of this year.
By Penny Gottardi
May 24, 2008 11:01 AM GMT
Verizon Wireless said on Friday it is trying to settle a deal with consumer groups and regulators that would reduce the fees customers are charged when they cancel their cell phone service early. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said at a media briefing on Friday the two sides had made "substantial progress" toward a compromise, although there was still no final consensus. The early cancellation fees are a perennial complaint of wireless phone customers and have also drawn complaints from some lawmakers in Congress.
Wireless carriers such as Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc and Sprint Nextel Corp say the fees are needed to ensure they recover subsidies they provide for handsets that customers get under the most popular service plans, as well as other up- front costs and rate discounts for those plans.The compromise floated by Verizon Wireless would place added restrictions on the fees the carriers could charge, and it would shift oversight of the fees to the FCC from state regulators, a source familiar with the discussions said. The deal would benefit the industry by taking the dispute out of state courts, where the companies are currently facing a number of class-action suits filed by customers. "Ultimately, it makes more sense for wireless consumers and providers to have one set of clear and consistent guidelines, rather than a 50-state patchwork of regulations," Verizon said.
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