One of the worst travesties in the mobile world is the existence of 3-year cellular contracts. At one point, the added 12 months gave customers lower prices at the time of sale. Fast forward to 2011, however, and you’ll hear accounts of people paying $300-$400 for a phone even with a 3-year contract. The entire point of early termination fees are to recoup the cost of subsidized phones. Tying into multi-year contracts — longer contracts allow carriers to (in theory) offer better discounts on hardware with the guarantee they’ll more than make up for the relatively small discount over the course of your contract. Unfortunately, carriers have taken advantage of consumers.

But such injustices will soon be a thing of the past as new European legislation put forth by independent governing body of UK telecom, Ofcom, shakes things up quite a bit. First on the chopping block: 3-year contracts.

Yes, the bane of every mobile enthusiast’s life — the 3-year contract — is now banned. Even better for people who constantly switch phones, a new 1-year or shorter contract will be a mandatory option on all carriers as Ofcom claims it provides consumers better choice of hardware and services while also saving them money. Finally, the new legislation tosses in several other small gems for consumers

• Mandatory emergency SMS allotment

• Phone number porting to other carriers within one working day or compensation wil have to be paid

If you ask us, life as a mobile junkie in Europe just got a lot better. Now if only our friends up north in Canada (where 3-year contracts are also the norm) could get the same benefit…

Source: Ofcom
Via: MobileBurn, IntoMobile