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"One of the most infuriating parts of buying broadband Internet service is getting stuck in a 2-year contract even if you've never tried the service out before.  Today, Verizon moved to eliminate that issue for its FiOS service by introducing a contract-free plan.\nLike other broadband providers, Verizon incentivizes new customers to sign up by offering reduced prices for the first several months of service. Normally those \"savings\" only come with a contract, but Verizon now offers the discounted rates on its TV/phone/Internet bundles for a full year without any contract, equipment included.\nYou can still sign a 2-year contract if you want to keep the discounted rates for two years, and in that case the company now offers a \"worry-free guarantee\" that ensures you won't incur any cancellation fees if you decide FiOS isn't for you and cancel within the first 30 days of starting service.\nBoth of these programs are available in the California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and the District of Columbia \u2014 at least, in the neighborhoods where Verizon FiOS is available at all. Additionally, the contract-free option is available in Indiana, Oregon, South Carolina and Washington.\nThis might be hyperbole, but sometimes it seems like every time you get a new gadget or piece of software you need to sign a 2-year contract. It's hardly a consumer-friendly solution, and given today's increasingly mobile and transient lifestyles, agreeing to receive service at one home for two years is almost laughable for some people.\nPoint is, we'd like to see more of this from other providers, or even from other divisions at Verizon. That's not to say Verizon is the only one that offers such a deal \u2014 it isn't. It's just good to see a major service provider join the ranks.\nImage courtesy of iStockphoto, Saturated\n\n\nFor more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2010/06/21/verizon-offers-contract-free-option-for-fios/>