Verizon today agreed to a consent decree (PDF) in a settlement with the FCC that will see it pay a total of $77.8 million in a dispute over "phantom" data fees. The deal will have Verizon pay $25 million directly to the US treasury as well as $52.8 million to compensate the roughly 15 million customers who were charged the unexpected data rates from November 2007 onwards. The refunds have already started and should take place within the next 45 days.
