Buyer beware. If you're one of the lucky consumers that can get FiOS Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) service in your town, great, but if you cancel a two-year contract, you'll be slapped with a $360 fee.
You heard it right: Verizon announced that as of this Sunday it will raise its ETF from $179 to $360.
While Verizon has the right to charge early termination fees, it will more than likely incite the ire of consumer advocates and the FCC, which has been questioning sister company Verizon Wireless' justification of its $350 "advanced devices" ETF.
Of course, Verizon's canned explanation is that the fee increase is designed to help it recoup installation and network construction costs. Verizon's CEO Ivan Seidenberg, who has set a 40 percent penetration goal for its FTTP-based FiOS, expressed frustration over the amount of time it takes to conduct FiOS service installations, particularly Multi Dwelling Units (MDUs).
Regardless of the reasons it's making this change, there are some disturbing facts about the Verizon FiOS ETF increase worth noting. Not only is Verizon refusing to give consumers a grace period to cancel without the ETF penalty, they'll still have to pay the ETF if they move to a town or city where FiOS is not available yet.
For more:
- look at this rant at the The Consumerist
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