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The Big Four and Google have all responded to the FCC's ETF-related questions. You should remember how the Commission wants to know more details about the whole early termination fees issue and how all the major U.S. carriers and Google have been asked to present their ETF policies.

T-Mobile wants just a single $200 ETF which can be avoided by customers altogether when choosing an Even More Plus plan. Google on the other hand, a partner of T-Mobile selling the Google Nexus One, brags about cutting down its own ETF from $350 to $150. Google's ETF called the Equipment Recovery Fee is apparently not a revenue stream but rather an alternative intended to help Google recover its loses should a customer cancel their T-Mobile contract within 120 days.


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In December 2009 the FCC decided to investigate Verizon's new early termination fees regarding "advanced devices." The Commission was not happy with Verizon's responses concerning its new policies and it seems ready to do some more investigating.

This time around the FCC is going after AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Google looking for more details about their ETF practices.


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The beginning of December 2009 brought in a natural FCC request to Verizon to reveal more details about its practices and policies regarding its Early Termination Fees.

And just before Christmas, Verizon, in a very long response, explained thoroughly why it has increased its ETFs for "advanced devices." Needless to say that the FCC didn't like the response as Verizon pretty much told everyone that its new ETFs cover other costs incurred by the company besides the price of those new "advanced devices."


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Just before the Droid was launched, Verizon decided to go ahead and raise that Early Termination Fee for "advanced devices" to $350 in order to make people think twice before ditching that new 2-year contract.

Don't expect Verizon to simply get away with that. Although the new ETF has been announced a month ago, the FCC will investigate the matter. Better late than never, right? The FCC has sent a 4-page letter to Verizon asking about that new ETF and the way it's calculated.


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Up until know we thought that the Motorola Droid is coming from Verizon Wireless exclusively, or at least we were expecting it to be a CDMA-only phone for a while. But the FCC has just revealed that the Droid is also compatible with GSM carriers like AT&T for example.


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You're probably more than familiar with Google's Google Voice freeware application by now. The app is compatible with most platforms out there although there is one in particular where Google Voice isn't officially supported for now.


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We've grown so accustomed and used to our cell phones that we hardly think about the fact that they could be dangerous for our health if used without caution. All phones emit radiation but the output level differs from phone to phone. The FCC sure regulates the maximum radiation level per phone but that doesn't mean that every phone out there emits the same amount of radiation.


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Nokia has a new phone ready to be launched and we were totally not expecting it. The phone is a dual slider and it's probably going to be known as an N-series phone when it gets out. We have no specific specs for now but we do have a tiny list of features which should make you want it.


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