AT&T Mobile Share Value Plan - 2 iPhones/4GB data per month

I wonder what taxes/fees will be like? I'm comparing this to my current 2 goPhones that I refill for $55 each out the door. Very comparable.

saintforlife said:

So I made a comparison of going off-contract and staying on contract with two iPhones and 4 GB of data for two years for the new Mobile Share Value Plans from AT&T.

It is obvious that you still save money by staying on-contract and paying $200 every two years if you tend to use iPhones and only buy new phones once every two years. But if you buy a cheaper phone like Nexus 5, the off-contract route probably makes more sense.

Here are my calculations. Thoughts?

Image

Click to expand...

The prepaid plans you quoted are expensive, prepaid can cost as little as $30 a month per line. Also on contract would add taxes from 10-20 per month for both lines.

saintforlife said:

I am not sure I understand. The prices are for 4GB plans. For both contract and non-contract phones, the 4GB plans are $70 per month. Where is the $30 number coming from?

Click to expand...

Im pointing out that there are much cheaper alternatives than ATT if you are going non contract. Att is expensive no matter the plan you get.

The cost of the phones kills the potential value in the case of this plan. Paying full price you can usually get flagship phones (other than Samsung's) for $200-$300 less than the equivalent iPhone, a difference that is disguised by subsidized prices. My 64GB HTC One cost me $650 after tax and shipping, the equivalent iPhone 5 (back then) would have been over $900. (I'm just comparing costs, not saying anything about preferences or quality of devices/OS)

AT&T prepaid with iPhones is probably the most expensive possible way to go prepaid. If that's what you're after, it makes more sense to go on contract. If you look at different phones or other plans, prepaid is much cheaper. Net10 has a pretty solid plan if you want two lines: $85/mo with 2.5GB LTE data per line and it includes roaming.

I did some quick calculations too using 16GB iPhone 5S and 16GB Nexus 5 as references. Using Net10 with a pair of iPhones saves you $660 over 2 years. Go with Nexus 5s and you're saving $1260. T-mobile and Virgin Mobile have $30 plans that could save you even more.

saintforlife said:

It is obvious that you still save money by staying on-contract and paying $200 every two years if you tend to use iPhones and only buy new phones once every two years. But if you buy a cheaper phone like Nexus 5, the off-contract route probably makes more sense.

Here are my calculations. Thoughts?

Image

Click to expand...

Actually, AT&T Next would be cheaper because the phones are $27/month for 20 months. That is only $540 compared to the full $649 and you still get the discounted $25/month phone cost.

Also, you have to pay a device activation fee of $36/phone for both of your options. There is no activation fee with Next.

One word of warning, you do have to pay sales tax on the $540 when you purchase your Next phone.

DipDog3 said:

Actually, AT&T Next would be cheaper because the phones are $27/month for 20 months. That is only $540 compared to the full $649 and you still get the discounted $25/month phone cost.

Also, you have to pay a device activation fee of $36/phone for both of your options. There is no activation fee with Next.

One word of warning, you do have to pay sales tax on the $540 when you purchase your Next phone.

Click to expand...

Att next is the biggest rip-off in history. The $27 per month you quote is in addition to the regular plan, the same amount a person on contract would pay. Eg on contract you would pay $80 a month and get a subsidy. With next you dont get the subsidy, yet you pay the same amount each month as someone who got a subsidy, plus the $27. You are in essence paying twice for the same phone.

saintforlife said:

With AT&T Next you have to turn in your phone when you want to upgrade. But if you own the phone, you can easily sell it for $250-300 after two years. So you come ahead by that amount if you don't opt for the Next plan.

The AT&T Next plan is like a car lease. You have a monthly payment, but at the end you own nothing. I can't think of a single scenario where it makes sense to go with the Next plan.

Click to expand...

AT&T Next is not a lease & you have no obligation to turn in your phone after 12 months. AT&T wants you to turn in your phone because they can resell it for more money, but you would be stupid to take them up on the offer.

You can fulfill the 20 months of payments or pay it off early at any time. You keep the phone either way. AT&T Next is an installment plan just like T-Mobile has.

With the new Mobile Share Value Plan, you get the $25/month non-contract rate instead of the $40/month contract rate. So you save $15/month over a 2-year contract phone.

Overall, AT&T Next offers the best deal.

DipDog3 said:

AT&T Next is not a lease & you have no obligation to turn in your phone after 12 months. AT&T wants you to turn in your phone because they can resell it for more money, but you would be stupid to take them up on the offer.

You can fulfill the 20 months of payments or pay it off early at any time. You keep the phone either way. AT&T Next is an installment plan just like T-Mobile has.

With the new Mobile Share Value Plan, you get the $25/month non-contract rate instead of the $40/month contract rate. So you save $15/month over a 2-year contract phone.

Overall, AT&T Next offers the best deal.

Click to expand...

Prolly the first post I actually agree with on ATT Next. Surprisingly, Next total over 20 months is about $100 less than full price, I thought it would just be full price divided by 20. No activation fees also helps, tired of dealing with those. Plus, paying $15 a month for being on contract comes out to $360 over two years, plus the activation feel being on contract has a nearly $400 hidden cost spread over the contract. Plus, the phone is locked for the whole duration.

I think with Next, you can get the phone unlocked as soon as you pay it off, and you'd only end up paying $340 over the subsidized price over the payment period.

saintforlife said:

I am not sure I understand. The prices are for 4GB plans. For both contract and non-contract phones, the 4GB plans are $70 per month. Where is the $30 number coming from?

Click to expand...

That's 4gb shared, so you should compare that to the $60/2gb per phone prepaid plans IMO. It's the same before taxes, $120 versus $120. With prepaid taxes/fees are included though, and you can regularly get that $60 for $55ish with Callingmart, and sometimes less, once again that's out the door. I like the savings because when you add them up it means you can buy a new phone every year, instead of every 2 years.

spinedoc77 said:

That's 4gb shared, so you should compare that to the $60/2gb per phone prepaid plans IMO. It's the same before taxes, $120 versus $120. With prepaid taxes/fees are included though, and you can regularly get that $60 for $55ish with Callingmart, and sometimes less, once again that's out the door. I like the savings because when you add them up it means you can buy a new phone every year, instead of every 2 years.

Click to expand...

But the gophone plan does not include tethering, right? The post paid plan does. All of AT&T's family share style plans include free tethering.

phositadc said:

But the gophone plan does not include tethering, right? The post paid plan does. All of AT&T's family share style plans include free tethering.

Click to expand...

Yeah tethering is nice. Facetime is also in question for gophone, some can use it others cannot.

GoPhone was a nicer deal before these value plans for those of us who liked to just buy our phones. But now that gap has certainly closed. Plus I pay $30 for my windows tablet, with value that would be $10 or even zero if I could tether, so I have to factor in that. Definitely food for thought to get back on the ATT bandwagon, it's also grown a bit annoying to have to remember to pay my prepaid every month.

Right now I'm at $110 for 2 gophones/2gb plus $30 for my windows tablet, so $140 out the door. $120 plus $10 for a tablet is $130, I couldn't see taxes being higher than $15 but then my wife has a 10% discount. Yeah these plans are pretty good the more I think about them.

When did they allow tethering on a regular mobile share plan? Has that been allowed for a long time?

saintforlife said:

So I made a comparison of going off-contract and staying on contract with two iPhones and 4 GB of data for two years for the new Mobile Share Value Plans from AT&T.

It is obvious that you still save money by staying on-contract and paying $200 every two years if you tend to use iPhones and only buy new phones once every two years. But if you buy a cheaper phone like Nexus 5, the off-contract route probably makes more sense.

Here are my calculations. Thoughts?

Image

Click to expand...

I'd be curious to see what the prices would be like if you upgraded the phone every year. Is there any advantage to being on Next and upgrading every year when looking at whatever penalty ATT would give? My addiction couldn't survive without a new phone every year.

spinedoc77 said:

When did they allow tethering on a regular mobile share plan? Has that been allowed for a long time?

Click to expand...

I think they've had tethering on the share everything plans since they were released a few months ago.

My prepaid gophone 2yr cost for 2 lines:

1. 2 (iPhones 5) x $400 = $800
2. 2 lines x $58/ month x 24 months = $2784
3. Total cost of 2 yrs = $3584
4. Monthly cost including cost of i5= $149.33

I bought the iPhones 5 used from Craigslist. I need to start using the callingmart coupon to drop the monthly line cost to $55.

This what I came up with when I did a 2yr ATT contract:

1. 2 (iPhones 5s) x $200 = $400
2. $150/ month for 2 lines x 24 months = $3600
3. $36 Activation fee x 2 lines = $72
4. ~$20 taxes & fees/ month x 24 months =$480
5. Total cost = $4552
6. Monthly cost including iPhones = $189.66

Disregard everything I said about AT&T Next.
AT&T has raised their prices on Next iPhones.
AT&T Next is now a bad deal, again.