AT&T jacks ETFs, denies it’s due to iPhone

From the “Riiiiiiiiiiight” Files…

AT&T on Friday issued a notice that just has to make you laugh. Effective June 1, 2010, the early termination fees (ETFs) for basic phone customers will be reduced from $175 to $150, and scaling down with each month you have left.

But if you have a netbook or smartphones, the ETF will increase from $175 to $325, also scaling down with each passing month. An AT&T spokesperson told TechCrunch that it was all a coincidence and had nothing to do with “any specific device.”

Uh huh.

With Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference now two weeks away and everyone expecting a new iPhone, anticipation is building that a Verizon version is coming. DigiTimes has run stories claiming a CDMA phone is in the works, but they’ve run them before and nothing has come of it.

I talk to people every day, often on their cell phones, and it’s almost become a standard warning from those folks: “Sorry, I’m on an iPhone.” It’s even worse if I work remotely and use mine. iPhone to iPhone communication? Two tin cans and a string is more advanced. If this Verizon iPhone ever does come to pass, neither Verizon nor AT&T will know what hit them, although for different reasons.