How many people choose their carrier based on early termination fees? I guess there aren’t that many. We look for good phone deals, better coverage, more minutes and data, less roaming surcharges and stuff like that. The only time we are faced with early termination fees is when considering a phone which is available only from a certain carrier. Can you name any model? That’s when we try to figure out how to get out of the contract and get back to our favorite carrier.

Imagine prison. Would you go in for 1 to 2 years with no parole just because you wanted 3G with your iPhone? Or would you try to escape after casing the joint? Of course you’d take your loot to your favorite carrier.

Carriers have started to reduce their early termination fees as the FCC is watching. In case you want to know what carrier would work best for you in case you wanted to cancel your agreement check out the graph above. Unfortunately only AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have been analyzed so far. We did discuss them before but placed together like that makes them easier to compare.

AT&T and Verizon seem to be the best choice if you want a fast getaway. They drop $5 for every month you spend with them. Verizon has a slight edge over AT&T as they start earlier with a month. On the long run T-Mobile will be a better choice but then again, why bother canceling after 22 months. No one tries to escape prison when they’re two months away from their official release.

via Consumerist