FCC To Hold Hearings On Early Termination Fees

Isaac-Lew sends word of an article in the Washington Post reporting that on June 12 the FCC will hold a hearing regarding cellphone early termination fees. The Commission may look at early termination fees for TV and Internet service as well. The wireless carriers are taking a Bre'r Rabbit approach toward possible FCC regulation of early termination fees — the FCC's intervention would pre-empt a number of class-action lawsuits going forward against Verizon, Sprint, and others. These suits, stemming from state regulations, could cost the carriers billions. "...the carriers have renewed a lobbying effort in recent weeks to persuade the FCC on a legal definition that would stave off the state lawsuits on cancellation fees. On May 6, 2008, Verizon Wireless chief executive Lowell McAdam and the company's chief lobbyist, Tom Tauke, met with [FCC Chairman] Martin, urging him to adopt a federal policy, according to FCC records."

Comments

Re:Market Forces At Work

[imageboard]

In Europe when you want a new phone you have to shell out several hundred dollars, there are no free phones or discounts. This is news to this European who has not paid for a handset for ten years.

Re:Market Forces At Work

[guruevi]

Well, maybe we'll get market forces at work for cell phone prices. In Europe, you CAN get unlocked phones that cost $25, $50 or $100. The cost of production to store of the iPhone was initially about $250 and should currently have gone down greatly everything else is just markup. However, I still can't get an unlocked phone in the US (even the simplest ones without any fancy stuff like bluetooth or 3G) for less than $150 if I buy it with my carrier. The Blackberries can easily cost more than $500 if you don't want to get locked in. Getting an open source phone that has lower production rate and more components (bluetooth, 3G, touch screen) is cheaper than that.

I would like a cell phone market where you can go to the mall, go into a cell phone store and order what you want, then go into your preferred carriers store and get what you want. Off course the prices should reflect that, knowing AT&T, Verizon or Sprint, they're just going to maintain the prices for subscriptions and jack up the prices of the cell phones.