AT&T follows Verizon, jacks up ETF on netbooks and smartphones
By Darren Murph 
posted May 21st 2010 3:39PM
posted May 21st 2010 3:39PM
Update: AT&T has published an "open letter" explaining the changes. Thanks, Daniel!
[Thanks, L.]
Beginning June 1, 2010, AT&T is making changes that will lower the early termination fee (ETF) for many customers who agree to new term commitments, and will increase it for others.
• Customers who are buying basic and quick messaging phones will have a lower ETF of $150, reduced by $4 for each month during the balance of the service agreement.
• Customers who purchase a more advanced, higher-end device, including Netbooks and Smartphones, will have an ETF of $325, reduced by $10 for each month during the balance of the service agreement.
Current AT&T wireless customers who are within their existing service agreement or have an existing enterprise service agreement will see no change to their current terms.
Action Required
• Review the Know the Facts and FAQs to learn the complete details of the ETF change.
• Managers in Company Owned Retail should review the ETF Ops Brief for additional items required to support the change.
@Dafrety
Oh lord...
@dontbecreepy
Comment system fail... The comment i was replying to was removed (super-oblivion)
Yay?
@N900
Nay
@N900
Yes, finally, going to jump over to Verizon and get an iPhone. Droid what?
@Vanilla Sperm
Droid Does!
@N900 it's still cheaper than Verizon, just sayin'.
I love that commercial and that song.
Does anyone know what the name and artist of that song is?
@Vanilla Sperm
why? $325 is $25 too low for you?
@abedinthehouse
Song was from the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
@N900 oh well, I'm leaving At&t and getting the HTC Evo.
@Processing It's still over $300.
@Dafrety
Gene Wilder - Pure Imagination
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3nV6WqA4Y0
I suppose, if you're looking for a title and artist.
@N900
I just wish these damn handsets weren't so pricey off-contract.
Why is it that the iPod Touch is only $199, but an off-contract iPhone starts at what, $600?
It makes no sense to me. Can someone explain? $400 for a little 3G chip that costs probably only $2?
this is great
@N900
I don't see a problem with this. With ETF sitting at $175 most of the smart phones are cheaper to buy subsidized on contract and pay the ETF than just buying the phone outright. They are just protected themselves from getting screwed that way.
@Vanilla Sperm
Uhhh... what?
The iPhone isn't going to hit Verizon this summer. My bet is that if the iPhone is going on Vz, it'll hit after September and most likely next year.
AT&T is trying to keep people from jumping on the EVO and Incredible.
@crawdad689 Your question is why Apple is getting $600 per iPhone but much less per iPod Touch, when obviously they're not that different technologically. (Although they are different devices -- they're not as similar as the iPad WiFi and the iPad WiFi + 3G.)
The answer: Because they can.
@Kloc That may be, but they would need to hurry up before the 1st of June, or be in favor of 150 ETF from buying a featurephone.
@N900
Well, the resale value of my 3G IPhone just went up, so I'm gonna say yay to this one. Especially since I just had to pay $199 to get it replaced (damn my pool, dammit to hell).
@Kloc The problem is:
-Not all phones have the same subsidy
-The reduction every month does not go to zero. It should be $240 and $10 a month or $325 and $13.54 a month.
-buying the phone out right is not $325+the purchase price. e.g. the $200 iphone should be $525 unlocked.
Slightly unrelated but a phone out of subsidy should have a lower monthly bill.
Congress I'm looking at to fix this BS.
@crawdad689 Its called demand and supply
@N900 What I do like about T-mobile is that they'll offer a discounted monthly rate for off-contract phones. I'm currently on a $40 Even More Plus plan with 500 minutes, unlimited night/wkd and unlimited text. Not bad. Same plan with a contract would be about $10-20 more.
There's almost no incentive to buy a phone off-contract on most carriers. I would like to get an Evo a full price without contract, but will Sprint give me at least a $20 break in monthly pricing?
@OldNewOne *ding ding ding ding* We have a winner!
Seems obvious as to why they are jacking up ETF on iPhones doesn't it? They don't want people jumping ship to Verizon when they get the iPhone. Duh.
@Matt da Brat
Agreed and thats what in a few months? Seeing that most go for the 2 year contract, waiting a few monthes for a better network is better than being stuck with a crappy one for 2 years.
The fact that these companies still charge full price for service when you are not subsidizing a phone (out of contract) is complete and utter BULLSHIT, and probably should be illegal.
What should also be illegal is having both a contract and LOCKED phones. The AT&T/iPhone rip-off is even worse: They claim they can't unlock your phone, even when your contract is up. Now THAT's bullshit.
U.S. consumers get screwed in new ways every day. It's kinda like the airlines charging you to change your flight, but still overbooking. They're guaranteed compensation for every sold seat now, even if you don't show up. But they're still double-charging.
@crawdad689
A lot of it has to do with the fact that Apple expects to regain their margins on the iPods through iTunes music sales.
@iPhooey
Actually they are raising the etf so that people wont be trying to work the system when they launch the new iphone this June;)
@chanceusc did u have to renew your contract to replace it at that price?
@raphymartinez
No, it's called an out of warranty replacement and it's something apple does for people that have iphones that are no longer covered by warranty (broken, old, etc). Just give them your old phone and they will give you a refurb of the same model.
@OldNewOne On 2010, AT&T will receive again the award for being the deadlast network carrier for USA. Congrats. http://j.mp/att-deadlast-carrier
thats beat... thanks a lot att
@clos1084
Sprint and the EVO 4G are looking better and better each day...
@clos1084
Word...
@clos1084 agreed....for now. Hopefully they don't follow suit.
@clos1084
only to the blind and geeky.
@clos1084 One wonders however whether Sprint will implement a similar policy.
@clos1084
why is this such a big deal? Try to boink the company, and the company boinks you.
If you want an awesome smartphone for free, be prepared to pay for it. If you want to pay for the phone upfront, then you won't have to sign up for a contract. Was that so hard?
@clos1084 Obviously you've never tried to cancel with Sprint before -- it's an absolute nightmare, riddled with bills charging you ETF no matter when you end your contract, and random other fees that they neglect to actually spell out.
Happened both times I gave Sprint a chance and canceled within 30 days. Two weeks later, I get a bill in the mail for $500, no description of why I owe $500. Sprint reps refuse to send me itemized bills and ended up sending me to collections twice before I threatened them with legal action if they damaged my credit, at which point they finally set my bill straight (to be only the first 2/3 of a month's charges) and sent me an itemized bill of why I owed what.
Absolute. Nightmare.
If you're a current Sprint customer they treat you great. It's kind of like having a crazy possessive girlfriend. She'll do anything for you while you're together, but if you try to break up, she'll screw you over any way possible.
@dez
Um what part of the US do you live in where even if you buy an unlocked 3G device, YOU DON'T HAVE TO SIGN A CONTRACT FOR SERVICE???
Don't talk about prepaid services that don't count. So it doesn't make any sense to buy an unlocked phone at full price rather than a subsidized price since you gotta sign up for service anyway.
However, if you mean sticking to your expired contract for a long time while using a purchased unlocked phone, then that's different. It really doesn't matter because those asshole bean counters at every company like AT&T has already nickeled and dimed the shit outta everyone that signs up regardless of contract - you can't win at the end.
The only way to win is to not use a cell phone. But that would suck ass.
@Dreamwell I had Sprint before and canceled fine, obviously. Don't generalize, it makes yourself seem stupid
I'm an agent and have canceled for many customers before as well.
@xolan99 If its after June 4th, I could care less.
@clos1084 I pre-ordered mine from Best Buy yesterday. Goodbye ATT
@clos1084 I think you saying "I'm an agent" pretty much takes away all hope of objectivity.
@clos1084 im thinking thats why they did this... keep people from leaving their network to buy that big beautiful EVO... oh how i wish i had sprint
@Dreamwell It's Best Buy, I sell att, verizon, and sprint. More objective than most
@clos1084 Really? When I tried to leave Sprint, I called 2 months before my contract was up to verify the date and everything was good. Just to be sure, I called again the day before I switched to T-Mobile, and the customer rep told me that I agreed to a 2yr extension 2 months ago. I had to talk to manager and ask him why I would sign a 2 yr extension 2 months before my contract was up and stay on the same plan with the same phone? They apologized and set the date back. Guess what I got in the mail a month later? ETF fees. I had to call back yet again to get them remove.
I doubt Dreamwell and I are the only ones. BTW, been with T-Mobile for 3 yrs and loving it.
@StuckInTexas "I doubt Dreamwell and I are the only ones. BTW, been with T-Mobile for 3 yrs and loving it."
You're not; same thing happened to me. I totally agree with Dreamwell that their great as a carrier, but terrible when you need to cancel.
Anyway, that was over 4 years ago...surely they've changed! PLEASE TELL ME THEY'VE CHANGED!! I reeeeeeally want the Evo T__T