Small Business

Seven Ways to Escape Your Cell Phone Contract

By Rick Broida

Updated on: July 16, 2008 / 11:00 AM EDT / MoneyWatch

You know the drill: To get a cell phone on the cheap, you have to sign up for a two-year service contract. But what if you want to get out of that contract (so you can buy, oh, I dunno, an iPhone 3G)? Normally you're subjected to a hefty early termination fee (or ETF, if you're in the biz), but Mac|Life shows you seven ways to escape from your current cell contract. A sampling:

Go Pro: Sprint, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and T-Mobile now all offer pro-rated ETFs based on the length of time remaining in your contract. If you qualify -- some service providers only offer pro-rated ETFs to people who signed up after a certain date -- you can generally save about $5 on the original ETF fee for each month you've had the contract.
Be Basic: If you can't get out of a c ontract that is nearing the end of its life and you opt to buy a new phone now anyway, check to see if it would be cheaper to switch your plan to the most basic, barebones service plan offered by your provider rather than paying the ETF.

The author also recommends cell-swapping services (which we've covered before) and, amusingly, pretending to be dead. If you've managed to wrangle your way out of a contract, share the deets in the Comments.