Is Sprint’s Upped Termination Fee A Precursor To The iPhone 5?

 

style="text-align: center;">href="http://cdn.everythingicafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ETFchange.png">class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-23428" title="ETFchange" src="http://cdn.everythingicafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ETFchange.png" alt="" width="576" height="344" />href="http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=8746">PhoneScoop  and href="http://www.sprintfeed.com/2011/08/sprint-changing-etfs-on-september-9th/">SprintFeed are reporting that Sprint is set to massively bump up their early termination fee, up from $200 to $350:

“Beginning September 9, Sprint is introducing a new pro-rated policy for ETFs for customers purchasing advanced devices such as smartphones, tablets, notebooks and netbooks. Customers with these advanced devices will be subject to a $350 ETF, which will be pro-rated based on the number of months remaining, should they decide to cancel service before the end of their service agreement.”

This would put Sprint’s ETF on the same level as AT&T and Verizon. So, why would that matter? In the build-up to the release of the Verizon iPhone, Verizon also bumped up the price on their ETF to its current level. The logic is that this way they can suck even more money out of people who are already tied in to a contract, but desperately want to upgrade.

Does this mean for sure that Sprint’s getting the iPhone? Definitely not, but it is a little more of a hint in that direction.