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--></style><title>For those of you looking into the
iPhone...fyi</title></head><body>
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<blockquote><a
href="http://www.engadget.com/">http://www.engadget.com/</a><br>
<br>
Verizon increases SMS rates -- customers now free of their
contracts<br>
<br>
Posted Jan 12th 2007 3:25PM by Donald Melanson<br>
Filed under: Cellphones<br>
It looks like Verizon Wireless is following in Sprint's SMS<br>
footsteps, announcing a planned hike in text messaging rates for<br>
those not currently subscribed to a messaging package. The hike,<br>
which will take effect March 1st, will bump the cost of sending a<br>
text message to the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico from
$0.10<br>
to $0.15 per message, with the price for international text
messages<br>
remaining at $0.25 per message. The cost of receiving a message
from<br>
customers of foreign wireless carriers, however, will increase to<br>
$0.15 whether you subscribe to a messaging package or not. If this<br>
all sounds a little familiar, it's because when Sprint did the
same<br>
thing late last year, it didn't take long for people to figure out<br>
that the rate hikes amounted to a so-called "material change"
to<br>
their contracts, meaning they could bail on it without paying an<br>
Early Termination Fee (EFT). So if you've been sticking to Verizon<br>
but secretly fancying another carrier, this looks like it may be
your<br>
only chance to take the plunge without also taking a hit. In
related<br>
news, Sprint looks to be planning a price hike of another sort,
with<br>
a pair of tipsters relaying the news to us that the cost for
Sprint's<br>
directory assistance service will be going up from $1.49 to $1.79
on<br>
February 1st, although whether that's enough to constitute a
material</blockquote>
<blockquote>change to the contract or not remains to be seen.<br>
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<div><font face="Palatino" color="#000000">Victoria L. Herring,
Attorney, Civil Rights, Discrimination & Employment Law,
<http://www.HerringLaw.com>; Travel research, planning &
Photography site and blog, <http://www.JourneyZing.com/blog>;
Des Moines, Iowa, ph.515-255-4475.</font></div>
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