Cell Phone Contracts

There is an industry wide practice for cell phone companies to renew customer contracts when a cell phone is replaced. I was tied up in T-Mobile for a year longer than I wanted to be because of the renewal of contact when I went to replace my cell phone that dropped in a river. I have no idea how this became company standard practice but it's wrong and needs to be remedied. Nice job to the FCC at lowering the maximum length cell phone contract down to 24 months but the wording on these contracts need to change as well. A cell phone contract should tie the patron to the service and the minutes and not the phone itself. Replacing a cell phone should not renew any contract. It should just replace a broken cell phone