See if you can follow this logic without twisting your eyeballs around the side of your head, because we couldn't.

An attorney for AT&T told the Federal Communications Commission yesterday that the early termination fees (ETFs) that consumers pay for switching cell phones in mid-contract are a "great deal," Ars Technica reports. "ETF-backed term contracts give customers the ability to lower their monthly charges and upfront handset costs, in exchange for their promise to pay monthly charges for the life of the contract or alternatively to pay the ETF in lieu of the remaining charges," Seamus C. Duffy said to the FCC, according to the report.

Not only that, but "the overwhelming popularity of these rate plans has fueled the tremendous increase in wireless penetration, usage, and technical innovation documented by the [FCC's] annual reports on wireless competition."

So that $175 fee you have to pay to switch carriers, because it turns out you have zero cell phone signal in your house? That's good for you, because it means you're saving money! And you thought the carriers didn't care.