FCC Focused On Fee Disclosure, Not Amounts

In its probe of wireless early-termination fees, the Federal Communications Commission won't focus on the amount of fees but on notice provided to consumers about them.

That should come as welcome news to the major U.S. wireless operators, whose policies around early-termination fees -- imposed when customers break contracts prematurely -- came under scrutiny by the FCC last December after Verizon Wireless doubled its ETF for smartphones and other "advanced devices" to $350. (AT&T followed suit last week.) It appears the FCC will not end up taking any action over the size of fee hikes. "That's not an area we're getting into at this time," said Joel Gurin, consumer and government affairs bureau chief at the FCC. Gurin said Wednesday that the FCC is continuing to work with the wireless industry as well as public interest groups to try to ensure that people have adequate information about charges so they're not taken by surprise. "What's important about this survey is that it gives us a common ground of understanding," he said.