T-Mobile USA to pro-rate ETFs starting next year

T-Mobile USA Inc. jumped on the bandwagon for a more consumer-friendly wireless service contract, announcing plans to begin pro-rating early termination fees in the first half of 2008.
The changes will affect new customers and current customers who renew their service contracts with T-Mobile USA. The wireless operator said that the new ETF policy and its specific details will be finalized and introduced in the first half of next year, but offered no further details beyond the fact that ETFs will decline over the course of the customer’s contract.
T-Mobile USA noted its consistently high performance in customer care and customer satisfaction surveys by J.D. Power and Associates. Sue Nokes, senior VP of sales and customer services at the carrier, said the ETF policy change “builds on our heritage of listening closely to our customers and always striving to meet their needs.”
T-Mobile USA also appears to be listening closely to its competitors. Verizon Wireless was the first of the national carriers to officially make pro-rated ETFs a part of its policy last year, and others have since followed suit with various new customer-friendly contracts changes to appeal to consumers.