Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has lowered its “equipment recovery fee” to $150 from $350 when customers drop its Nexus One phone before their contract with T-Mobile USA officially expires. The change occurs just after the FCC formally sent letters to various operators and Google about wireless early termination fees. In this case, the Google fee is a bit confusing because it is in addition to the $200 fee that T-Mobile charges when users break a contract early.

The WSJ reports that a Google representative said the company had been working with T-Mobile to lower the equipment fee. The change was posted officially on Google’s terms of service page for the Nexus One. While the fee was changed, Google was clear that it doesn’t represent a change in its financial philosophy. It said. “We make no profit from commissions from operators or from equipment recovery fees, and our recovery fees are based on operator charges to Google for early termination of service,” the company said in a statement.

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