ETF class-action hits T-Mobile USA

T-Mobile USA Inc. has been hit with a new class-action lawsuit over early termination fees, the complaint coming amid costly, high-stakes litigation in California and a fierce debate over whether federal regulators should set a national policy that pre-empts state oversight of wireless providers.
“Through a uniform scheme and common course of conduct, defendant charged plaintiff and other customers ETFs of $200 per handset if they cancelled their wireless service at any time after a trial period but before the end of the ‘service plan,’ regardless of the reason(s) for cancellation, which could include poor or nonexistent service (including, for example, because a consumer is unable to obtain wireless service in certain locations as needed),” stated the 17-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey.
T-Mobile USA, the fourth-largest wireless carrier, and other national cellular operators have been ensnarled in massive ETF litigation in California state court, with Alameda County Superior Court Judge Bonnie Sabraw earlier this month ordering Sprint Nextel Corp. to pay $18.25 million to users who paid ETFs and and to provide a credit of $54.75 million to those who were charged but didn’t pay the fees.
Peter Dobrow, a T-Mobile USA spokesman, said the carrier could not comment on pending litigation.
Verizon Wireless recently settled a similar suit in California Superior Court for $21 million. The nation’s top cellular carrier, AT&T Mobility, remains under the cloud of a class-action ETF suit in the same court.
Meantime, FCC Chairman Kevin, backed by aggressive wireless industry lobbying, wants the agency to approve by year’s end a national framework for ETFs that could largely remove state jurisdiction over a mainstay business practice designed to recover operators’ costs – particularly those associated with subsidization of handsets.
Consumer advocates, state regulators and some lawmakers appear to share Martin’s desire to bring clarity, fairness and consistency to ETFs for many of the 260-plus million wireless subscribers, but they do not want state powers eviscerated in the process. It is unclear whether the FCC will be able to adopt national ETF guidelines without support from leading consumer groups.