Nexus One ETF To Cost A Weighty $550Nexus One ETF To Cost A Weighty $550

Ouch. According to the fine print in Google's terms of service for the freshly announced Nexus One Android device, if you choose to leave your T-Mobile contract early, you're going to have to fork over a hefty $550 -- that's $20 more than it costs to buy the phone outright.Early Termination Fees are used by network operators to prevent customers from leaving their wireless contracts early. Verizon Wireless recently raised the ire of the FCC when it increased the ETF it charges customers from $175 to $350 for advanced devices (read: smartphones). The FCC is still looking into Verizon's ETF policy change and has called the entire affair "troubling."

One has to wonder, then, what the FCC will make of the ETF consumers will have to pay if their break their T-Mobile contract early. The terms of service say that both Google and T-Mobile will levy ETFs against consumers who break their contracts early.

Google will charge $350 and T-Mobile will charge $200, totaling a whopping $550 fine. If you want to buy the device with no contract, it will cost $530. New T-Mobile customers can score the Nexus One for $179. Customers who buy without a contract won't have to worry about this ETF, but it is very interesting that Google thinks it can get away with charging its own ETF.

What say ye? Smells rotten to me.

[Via IDG News Service]