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Verizon Wireless Confirms the Droid Can Be Tethered

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I will not go near Verizon...

Slammer

Nov 4, 2009, 2:54 PM
...if rumors emerge reality. The talk is VZW doubling their ETFs to 350 bills. I will not step foot near that neighborhood. They can do all the handstands, backflips, or tricks as much as they want. But this smells of no good deeds down the road. Locking customers into a jail. Something is cooking. No thanks.
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VZW611LA

Nov 4, 2009, 4:42 PM
It's not to lock customers in jail, its for the people who are adding lines to get the phone then ending the contract and paying only 175.00. Verizon doesn not have 1 smartphone over 200.00 anymore. They price the smartphones at a low price. But you have the idiots who think they are smart and can make a buck or 2 off of this, well not anymore.

And if you wanted the Droid or Eris, you have till the 14th to get it with the ETF at 175.00.
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WiWavelength

Nov 4, 2009, 5:14 PM
VZW611LA said:
But you have the idiots who think they are smart and can make a buck or 2 off of this, well not anymore.


The "idiots" (or shysters) are those who artificially conflate the sale of wireless devices w/ the concomitant sale of wireless services. The sooner that we (as the regulatory agencies of our government) divorce this unnecessary, exclusionary connection, the better. The artificially inflated prices of "subsidized" wireless devices will plummet in the face of real competition.

I could have purchased my cable modem from my cable provider. Or I could have purchased a DSL modem from my competing DSL provider. Instead, I purchased a cable modem from a retail outlet w/ no contract at a...
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Menno

Nov 4, 2009, 7:20 PM
I am a huge fan of unlocked/contract free phones (and I am all for them dropping in price)

But as long as customers demand their product at an artificially reduced rate, ETFs are here to stay.

Now, if this makes cell phone makers drop the retail on the phones.. I am doubly happy.
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Kyoto2025

Nov 4, 2009, 11:18 PM
Here here!!!! **Applause**
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Cellenator

Nov 4, 2009, 4:52 PM
And I'm sure that AT&T and Sprint are licking their chops....thinking finally Verizon made the first move so now they can up their ETF as well and not be the bad guy...well maybe not Sprint they can't even sign up any new customers.
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tgood

Nov 4, 2009, 6:11 PM
Interesting, I remember something along the lines that U.S. Cellular is prorating their early termination fees. The longer you complete your aggreement, the less your cancelation fee is... why can't the other BIG carriers do something like this?
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stinson5043

Nov 4, 2009, 6:21 PM
verizon has done this. the normal etf is 175 and every month you keep service it goes down 5 dollars a month. the new etf is only on smartphones/pda devices and you start at 350 and that goes down 10 dollars a month every month you keep service. the increase is just to keep people from adding a line and then canceling it right away just to get the phone cheaper. since pda devices are so cheap right now and the subsidy is so high they were losing money with only having a 175 etf to start with on those particular devices.
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Menno

Nov 4, 2009, 8:23 PM
verizon has done this for years.

the 175 goes down 5 a month

the 350 goes down 10 a month.

They were the first major carrier to do this.
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Slammer

Nov 4, 2009, 6:45 PM
There maybe some viable truth to what you are saying. However, Verizon has spent a huge amount of money acquiring subscribers that may not have migrated to Verizon otherwise. I believe this is one way to keep their investment. While I don't know many people in the acquired Alltel markets, The two that I know of, are not entirely happy with the acquisition. Their interest is in paying the ETF as it stands, dumping VZW and going to another carrier. This ETF will make it much more difficult. I also get tired of the phones being subsidized excuse. Most carriers make up the difference within 8 months. I agree with WiWavelength. If carriers were comfortable and confident with their practices, carriers wouldn't be raising ETFs. They would keep them...
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Menno

Nov 4, 2009, 8:22 PM
the ETF only applies on NEW contracts, not on existing ones, and for those new contracts, only on high end devices.

As it stands now, it's very profitable for people to set up new service for a high end device, cancel that service, and sell the phone on ebay (paying current ETF) This is killing carrier numbers and costing the carrier a TON of money.

It costs verizon (and I am assuming other carriers) about $35 (on average) to maintain a line of service for a month. This means that if you're on a basic plan, they are making 5 profit a month on you (not counting data or anything since I have no idea on margins. now, if you get a EnV touch (say the loss on the device is 100) it would take 20 months to make the money back.
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