wireless plan

Internet search giant Google has slashed its fee for returned Nexus One smartphones by more than half. The fee went from $350 to $150 after consumers clogged Internet forums with complaints about the fee.

Effective immediately, customers who bought Google's Nexus One phone and cancel or downgrade their wireless plan within 120 days from activation may be charged a $150 equipment recovery fee, according to the company's U.S. terms of sale. Customers who return the device to Google within 14 days won't be charged the fee.

For consumers concerned about wireless network congestion, hope may be at hand. That's the message from a group of tech companies backing wireless fidelity, or Wi-Fi, a way to get online without having to go through a traditional mobile-phone network.

The Wi-Fi Alliance, an industry group that includes Intel, Marvell Technology Group, and dozens of other electronics companies, was at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to tout a new technology called Wi-Fi Direct as a way to relieve bottlenecks in wireless networks caused by increased use of mobile devices to access the Internet.

A much-publicized meeting by the Federal Communications Commission later this month has been canceled. The meeting's agenda included a vote on a plan that could have provided free broadband wireless service to underserved areas of the U.S.

The FCC said the meeting for Dec. 18 was canceled following a request from Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) that the agency scale down other efforts in order to concentrate on the switch to digital-television broadcasts in February.

Pressure From Both Sides

Recent market moves suggest that counting mobile minutes used could go the way of the oversized car phones that laid the foundation for today's wireless revolution.

Following in the footsteps of Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel, Virgin Mobile USA is the latest wireless carrier to adopt an unlimited pricing plan. Citing the rising cost of gas, air travel, and other items, Virgin unveiled its Totally Unlimited calling plan for $79.99 a month on Tuesday.