Well show me anywhere that they mentioned that they have new service plans that don't include the subsidy. They have been charging their full plan even after your contract was finished if you never upgraded your phone. And they charge their full plan even if you bring your own phone. Of course it doesn't make any sense......it never has, but it's what they can get away with. Now it's time for T-mobile to hit back and highlight the fact that their rate plans are much lower than the major carriers.
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AT&T Rolls Out New 'AT&T Next' Smartphone and Tablet Upgrade Program
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Well show me anywhere that they mentioned that they have new service plans that don't include the subsidy. They have been charging their full plan even after your contract was finished if you never upgraded your phone. And they charge their full plan even if you bring your own phone. Of course it doesn't make any sense......it never has, but it's what they can get away with. Now it's time for T-mobile to hit back and highlight the fact that their rate plans are much lower than the major carriers.
So I pay more every month so I can switch my old phone for a new one...? For that I'll save the 30 bucks every month (30 x 12 = $360) and just sell my old one and buy the next gen iPhone!
Plus, there's no mention of lower rate plans so I'd be getting screwed even more than I already am if I don't subsidize the phone in the first place!!!
As soon as my contract is up I'm seriously considering the switch to t-mobile. All I need now is for t-mobile to unveil phase 3 to really see convince me. The only thing I'm worried about is their network but they've been promising to grow and expand it. We'll see...
Plus, there's no mention of lower rate plans so I'd be getting screwed even more than I already am if I don't subsidize the phone in the first place!!!
As soon as my contract is up I'm seriously considering the switch to t-mobile. All I need now is for t-mobile to unveil phase 3 to really see convince me. The only thing I'm worried about is their network but they've been promising to grow and expand it. We'll see...
Wait, wait, wait.
Originally the cost of cellular service was justified because the carriers were SUBSIDIZING the cost of the phone to the consumer. The telco would lock you in as a loyal customer, pounding you in the rear for two years (previously 1.75 years) in exchange for selling you a "super expensive phone" that honestly costs half as much than what you are paying for it with your "subsidized" price.
Now to "compete" AT&T is saying, hey- save up your OWN money and you'll get a "new phone upgrade" every year.
$390 + $260 so you can buy the iphone X for "free"- does this make sense? That's $650- THERE IS NO SUBSIDY YOU ARE THROWING YOUR MONEY AT AT&T! Remember we pay a "higher price" in exchange for getting a subsidy. Now this is meaningless.
Wow, AT&T. I don't care that this program is optional. As a consumer I should be allowed to "vote with my dollars". You won't be getting anything from me. This anti-competitive behavior is getting old.
Originally the cost of cellular service was justified because the carriers were SUBSIDIZING the cost of the phone to the consumer. The telco would lock you in as a loyal customer, pounding you in the rear for two years (previously 1.75 years) in exchange for selling you a "super expensive phone" that honestly costs half as much than what you are paying for it with your "subsidized" price.
Now to "compete" AT&T is saying, hey- save up your OWN money and you'll get a "new phone upgrade" every year.
$390 + $260 so you can buy the iphone X for "free"- does this make sense? That's $650- THERE IS NO SUBSIDY YOU ARE THROWING YOUR MONEY AT AT&T! Remember we pay a "higher price" in exchange for getting a subsidy. Now this is meaningless.
Wow, AT&T. I don't care that this program is optional. As a consumer I should be allowed to "vote with my dollars". You won't be getting anything from me. This anti-competitive behavior is getting old.
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What a horrible deal, im paying them 390$ and the 200$ for a new phone when i could use an upgrade on the family plan and pay 200$ and sell the phone for 390 and make 190$ at the same time? What a joke. Just gives us back our 18 month upgrade cycle you greedy bastards. This deal is a joke.
You've got it backward. We can't prove a negative. You have to prove it to us by finding a page that shows the subsidized rate plans will cost more than the 'Next' plans. So far I'm not seeing it.
The hell of it is, if you were right then Next WOULD be a great option. I'd probably choose it over a 2-year subsidy myself.
But until someone finds a page that shows that, we're both just dreaming.
Correct, but the real sham stinks even more... You know how we Americans pay some of the highest cellular rates of the developed world and most Europeans laugh at us?
What does it mean that all the major carriers coincidently revealed strikingly similar upgrade plans within days of each other? This sounds a lot like collusion to me. To recap, they all offer about the same service, with about the same number of "perks", for about the same high price... competition is good, right?
And they get away with this sham without any fear of congressional hearings because they willingly play ball with the NSA, etc., it's their reward for being scumbags.
/tinfoil hat
Well they have a plan with 5GB (unlimited 2G), unlimited texts, and 100 minutes for $30. Extra minutes are 0.10 each. So this does add up to $50 if you actually use 300 minutes per month. But there are no taxes/fees on top of that as with post-paid. And I have bought $50 T-mobile refill cards on eBay for as low as $35....they are on there for that right now. Usually I pay around $40. And you can use your large data plan to make VOIP calls, so I've never gone over 100 minutes anyway.
Agreed. If the rates don't go down, this is stupid. I doubt that AT&T will ever decrease its prices though
Sounds like competition to me. If one guy does it, the others have to. AT&T customers should be glad that T-Mobile offers the iPhone now because that will put pressure on AT&T, and they're already getting aggressive. As for the pricing, I don't know. Maybe Europe is cheaper to provide service to, or there is more competition, or they have some kind of regulation, or the demand is lower. Last time I went to Europe (France), I saw very few people using phones compared to the US. Most people here are addicted.
The thing I genuinely think is collusion is the SMS scam. You have to pay a really significant amount of money for something that is dirt-cheap to provide. You'd think that the competition would keep the price of SMS really low, but it doesn't. You can send free text messages (by that I mean email, AOL, etc) from so many different services, but it's as if the cell companies are all agreeing to charge money for it.
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They don't lose resale value as much. They do lose resale value. Plus, the stupid government (at least in CA) sets the sales tax for a subsidized phone at the unsubsidized price, which is BS because they tax you again for the service that subsidizes it.
am i missing something? where does it say we have to buy the phone, when we pick the phone up? i understand the monthly-payments, but it says no down payment.
It will be interesting to see how Verizon responds. Historically they're usually the first to increase fees. Past examples are raising the ETF rather dramatically, as well as activation and other misc fees. I wouldn't be surprised to see a response from Verizon soon.
So, the extra $30+ is for not having a contract commitment?
Looking at it in a different way, this pricing plan is pretty much same as what it was when the original iPhone was first launched. You pay the full price plus you sign up for a monthly plan. That did not quite work out. So now, they are basically selling the phone on an installment plan.
So, I guess this makes sense for people who do not want to be bound by a contract but still do not want to pay the full cost of the phone upfront.
Somehow I see this as a difficult sell to the average customer. The only thing they seem to be getting for paying this $30+ a month is the option to upgrade the phone every year.
From my experience, most people are OK with the contract. So for those people, if they want to upgrade after a year, how much typically extra they will pay?
The only competition these plans have generated is a competition to see which carrier is best at pulling the wool over the consumers' eyes.
AT&T just upped it a level! They are going to actually charge the consumer twice for their phone (once in the payments and again in the service), but they are going to make it sound good to the consumer with "get your phone for 0 up front!" On the surface it sounds better than T-mobile's offer, but is in reality an even bigger rip-off! I'm sure VZ can top them both!
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Exactly! What's confusing about that? Sounds so simple. Most people will never do the math and figure out what $32.50 per month for their phone will actually cost them.
AT&T just upped it a level! They are going to actually charge the consumer twice for their phone (once in the payments and again in the service), but they are going to make it sound good to the consumer with "get your phone for 0 up front!" On the surface it sounds better than T-mobile's offer, but is in reality an even bigger rip-off! I'm sure VZ can top them both!
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Exactly! What's confusing about that? Sounds so simple. Most people will never do the math and figure out what $32.50 per month for their phone will actually cost them.
Other than the fact it's still fashionable to bash AT&T, I don't see what is causing all the uproar. It's not like this is the only program they offer, it's simply one more choice. That it's expensive shouldn't be a surprise, times change, things change and prices go up. Given that many people fail basic math, or can't balance their checkbook, I'd bet that many will buy into this option without hesitation. AT&T is a lot like Apple, with deep pockets and a strong customer base, they can afford to do whatever they want.
This is on the level of "Zero payments for two years," "Cash for Gold," "Store Credit cards," and "Payday Loans." Simply targeting those who don't understand how screwed over they are getting.
Welcome to the world of telco math 'Murica. Only AT&T can deliver such gall while looking you in the eye, and this is the only time in recent memory I felt like writing the government a thank you note. I don't care at this point if I have 20% less coverage with Tmobile, I will gladly give my business to a company who has equitably split out the device cost from service. Both AT&T and Verizon appear to think they can have it both ways and in fact would had competition from Sprint and Tmobile been non-existent.
Yep, BUT it's basically the "cheapest" way to get one on or near release day. With Apple's two or more month lag time before buying a contract free phone the value of your old one drops big time. I went three weeks with a four year old dumb phone before finally breaking down and buying one from AT&T just because it was impossible to buy one anyway else. To top it off I had already waited a week or two after the announcement and lost easy $100 or more on resell value from my previous phone.
I dream of the day that Apple lets it be free and open and takes preorders for contract free phones. Would sell my previous phone as soon as invites went out to the press, watch announcement, wait my few days before preorders went on sale and jump on it. Probably only two weeks or so max with a dumb phone.
So, AT&T openly declares that they think their customers are too stupid to do basic arithmetic. That's what the title should say.
If you're comfortable upgrading every other year, you effectively pay $9.83 a month, and that doesn't consider that you get to keep/sell the old phone!
This is just such a terrible option. Why on earth would I want to pay them extra money to not get the subsidized price when that subsidy is built-in to my monthly rate plan?! This option should remove the $20/mo per phone fee built-in to my phone bill which serves no purpose but to counteract the subsidy I get every two years.
If you're comfortable upgrading every other year, you effectively pay $9.83 a month, and that doesn't consider that you get to keep/sell the old phone!
This is just such a terrible option. Why on earth would I want to pay them extra money to not get the subsidized price when that subsidy is built-in to my monthly rate plan?! This option should remove the $20/mo per phone fee built-in to my phone bill which serves no purpose but to counteract the subsidy I get every two years.
I'm actually curious about the tablet plans though... Would I be able to get the latest iPad and pay monthly on it BUT only activate service when I need it? In that case it's basically an interest free loan AND a built in buyer/credit toward the next new one...
This stuff is going completely the wrong direction.
Get the prices of phones down, like the Nexus 4.
Sell everything off contract.
Allow users to buy and use whatever phone they want on your network.
Attract users to your network, by making the network good.
Get the prices of phones down, like the Nexus 4.
Sell everything off contract.
Allow users to buy and use whatever phone they want on your network.
Attract users to your network, by making the network good.
It's optional, people!
Wow, people can't seem to grasp the idea behind optional offerings. This isn't for people who are good at updating their phone each year, selling the old one. It's not for people who keep their phones for the full two years before upgrading. It's not for people who want a "bring your own phone" discounted plan.
It's for people who want each year's update of their favorite phone (iPhone, mostly). For those people, bitching about subsidies is meaningless, as they have no option anyway! And, yes, if they can do better elsewhere, they may as well. But this still comes out cheaper than buying an iPhone (or other phone) each year, if that's what you want, without hassle.
So, it's not for everyone. Cool, it's optional after all. But it's definitely going to end up saving some people a lot of money and/or effort.
Wow, people can't seem to grasp the idea behind optional offerings. This isn't for people who are good at updating their phone each year, selling the old one. It's not for people who keep their phones for the full two years before upgrading. It's not for people who want a "bring your own phone" discounted plan.
It's for people who want each year's update of their favorite phone (iPhone, mostly). For those people, bitching about subsidies is meaningless, as they have no option anyway! And, yes, if they can do better elsewhere, they may as well. But this still comes out cheaper than buying an iPhone (or other phone) each year, if that's what you want, without hassle.
So, it's not for everyone. Cool, it's optional after all. But it's definitely going to end up saving some people a lot of money and/or effort.