If by any chance you are planning on joining the Big Blue with a view to purchasing the next generation iPhone when it arrives, you just might be in for a bit of a shock over AT&T’s early termination fee, which up until June 1st would have been $175.00.
However according to an article over on the WSJ courtesy of Rosa Golijan over at Gizmodo we are hearing that AT&T is hiking up their ETF from said $175.00 to a rather staggering $325.00 which is quite some jump.
The reason for the ETF hike says AT&T is that in a fair approach the less a customer spends on a handset the less the ETF while the more you spend on a device should reflect in a higher early termination fee, which basically means buy a cheap phone and you won’t be hit by the increase; buy the next iPhone and you can expect that $325.00 ETF to apply.
Apparently though the Big Blue is generous in as much as the closer to the end of your contract, the lower the ETF will be as they will drop the ETF by $10.00 for each month you stay a customer during the balance of your 2 year agreement while previously the reduction was $5.00.
But doesn’t it seem a coincidence that AT&T has decided to up their early termination fee just before the iPhone 4G is expected to be released, drop us a comment with your views in the area below.