Some national chains offer the same deal. I've seen ads here in NY

Wow, too bad their primary coverage area seems to be that of a wifi router. But great idea.

I would be surprised if one of the big players ever offered this nationally. I always thought that was one of the main tenets of the cell phone business after bros before hos, and never talk about the fight club is never steal customers from another company by paying the ETF. It is detente. If one of them started doing it everyone else would have to (see the unlimited calling thing for a few weeks ago). And once people can freely jump carriers then their business model gets screwed.

I have a better idea for the major carriers: eliminate ETFs. In fact I think ETFs should be outlawed by Congress.

If AT&T wireless offers this, I'm jumping ship.

You'll see a lot of the "major carriers" offer this. The problem is that its not usually through their corporate stores its the little booths in the malls that always throw it out there. I've had T-mobile, Helio, and Qwest all offer to pay off my ETF from Verizon.

@PeteyNice: The landline long distance companies had offers like this all the time in the mid-90s. For a while, it was possible to turn a profit off long distance, continually switching from MCI to Sprint to AT&T, and getting $50-100 payoffs -- plus the payment of all 'switching' fees. It doesn't surprise me that cells are doing the same thing now.

ETFs will not be eliminated, the cell phone companies would lose ridiculous amounts of money because customers would immediately cancel and switch providers every time they didn't win a dispute.

The only way ETFs would be eliminated is if new market conditions were brought in that required customers to pay more up front for the phone (thus negating the need for an ETF) but we all know that won't happen as america is addicted to "free" cell phones.

@tedyc03: I don't know. I think pro-rated ETFs is great. Outlawing ETFs as a whole I think would be bad.

Contracts exists so that the cell phone company can recoup the cost of giving you a discount on the phone. That's why you don't pay $600 for a cell phone (which, I still contend, is over-priced).

Are there any data on how much revenue is actually generated based on early termination fees?

I work for AT&T down here. We lose more customers to CSouth than anyone else. They have a very good network (even though its pretty small) and offered unlimited plans like 5 years ago. This deal is starting to catch on and we have lots of customers switching or at least asking questions.

Wow, I wish alltel or US cellular would offer this... I have t-mobile and I just moved to Ahoskie, NC where there is no reception (kind of an emergency move...) and I had just gotten this plan about 3 months ago...

@nosebleed: If you moved to an area without reception (which looking at T-Mobile's coverage map for Ahoskie, that definitely seems to be the case) give T-Mobile customer service a call. As long as you can provide some sort of proof of you moving (utility bill probably) they'll let you out of your contract without an ETF.

Customer service wise, and network wise, Cellular South is an awesome company. The largest private regional carrier in the nation.

Basic Unlimited calling plan, $59.99: 24/7, to anywhere in the nation, includes 750 roaming minutes for when you go out of the "Mississippi, coastal Alabama, the Florida panhandle, and parts of Memphis" calling area.

Best Unlimited calling plan, $79.99: 24/7 truely unlimited - as in, doesn't matter where you are in the country - no such thing as roaming. Also includes Unlimited Mobile Web and Download Access, Unlimited Nationwide Text Messaging, and Unlimited Picture Messaging. Unfortunately, they don't have the ability to Picture message people on other carriers.

I've been all over the nation with my Cellular South phone and have not had one problem.

That being said, their lineup of phones SUCK. They got the Motorola RAZR 2 years after everyone else did. Go to their web site, key in a local zip code like 39211, and just look at that horrible lineup of phones. If you just want to talk and text, their phones are fine. If you want hipness like Verizon Voyager or iPhone, you are S.O.L. They seem to have some sort of relationship with Kyocera, which makes downright shitty phones.

Awhile ago, I asked Verizon if they would be willing to pay my Sprint ETF if I switched to them, and the customer rep said it was illegal because it would be considered "stealing customers" from competitors.

"stealing customers" is not illegal, it's good business.

When a market like the cellphone industry is over saturated in a country like the US (come on, who doesn't have a cellphone nowadays?) the only way to increase profits is to take customers from other companies and/or get more revenue from existing customers. I think you will slowly see a trend of ETFs not being waived but slowly done away with over the next 5-10 years, as hopefully Americans wise up to the fact that once they realize that "free phone" is not free the same way "24 months without financing" doesn't mean it's all rainbows and unicorns. If people bought phones for $300+ dollars, and didn't have a contract, telcos would break their backs bending over to appease their customer base. And customers wouldn't be moronic when they drop their phone in the toilet and ask their provider why they can't give them another "free" Razr, when the phone probably still retails for at least a Benjamin.

Credo Mobile (formerly Working Assets Wireless) has a similar offer, and I took them up on it a few months back. I switched from Sprint (good signal where I live, but horrendous billing and customer service) to a MVNO operating on Sprint's network. Still the same good coverage, but I don't have to deal with Sprint.