CellSouth Fights the Big Guys

Cellular South, a leader in wireless solutions and innovation, today announced a plan to make it easier for consumer and business customers to switch service providers without facing costly fees of up to $200 for early termination of their contract.

As part of a limited time offer that began Sunday, Cellular South will give qualified consumers who switch to its service a credit of up to $200 on their account to offset the early termination fees imposed by their former wireless carrier.

"We believe customers should be free to use wireless how they want, regardless of whether they want to talk, text, email, access the mobile web or all of the above, " said Suzy Hays, senior vice president of marketing and sales for Cellular South. "The short-term incentive of not having to pay early termination fees to switch will allow customers of other wireless carriers to enjoy the freedom of unlimited plans at the variety of price points on a reliable nationwide network."

A 2005 study by IPSOS North America of 1,000 U.S. adults found that 47% would consider switching service if termination fees were eliminated. Another 36% said fees already had forced them to stay in a higher-priced plan against their will. In a 2007 cell phone service survey, the Consumer Reports National Research Center found that one in seven survey respondents wanted to switch to a better carrier, but were thwarted by early termination fees that can run as high as $200 per phone line.

Other US carriers have responded to consumer frustration around early termination fees as well - with at least Sprint & T-Mobile offering pro-rated fees based on length of contract that was announced late last year.

This is a nice marketing move by Cellular South. I have no idea how many wireless subscribers they have (they don't appear to publish this info) but obviously as we move to a saturation point in cellular subscriber acquisition, the new game is all about SHARE, not growing the pie anymore, and these types of offers will get folks to move.