But yesterday the two companies said they had agreed to scuttle the deal without a termination fee.

The termination fee was at the heart of a dispute between the Asian companies and creditors.

Customers can now try out a service for at least 14 days and cancel without early termination fees.

However, the court did order Cerberus to pay a $100 million termination fee.

Early termination fees, backed up by contract law, are the first line of defense.

The companies will waive the early termination fee if you die.

But, they did eventually let me out of my service contract without a termination fee.

Most will likely wait for their contract to end in order not to be socked with early termination fees.

And who pays the termination fees to complete these calls?

A trial period lets you test your service and try the features of the phone without incurring a termination fee.