Cell Phone Early Termination Fees Illegal in California!!! (For now.)
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/99655
I really, really hope this survives the appeals stage and I’m sure Sprint/Nextel won’t let something like this slip through their fingers. Nor would any major cellular carrier.
A caution, however:
While an appeal is inevitable, the ruling could have massive fallout throughout the industry. Without the threat of levying early termination fees, the cellular carriers lose the power that’s enabled them to lock customers into contracts for multiple years at a time. And while those contracts can be heinously long, they also let the carriers offer cell phone hardware at reduced (subsidized) prices. AT&T’s two-year contract is the only reason the iPhone 3G costs $199. If subsidies vanish, what happens to hardware lock-in? Could an era of expensive, but unlocked, hardware be just around the corner? It’s highly probable.
For the time being though it’s good news. My own contract with Sprint has me at a $200 early termination fee and I just renewed it earlier this year to upgrade to a Katana II. So far I do not have a reason to switch to another carrier…yet.
But like I said: really, really, really, really hope this survives the appeal.
