Carrier Rumor that AT&T will end 2 year contracts at the end of May

[aneftp]

I jumped ship on 2 year contracts when I got my S5 last year.

I despise being locked into contracts with ETF's.

Next is emancipating.

Att is counting on most people not paying the phones off in full. And most people will be kept on installment plans. So it's a deterrent and definitely not emancipation since they don't anticipate people paying their installment plans off early.

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People forget (outside of California and Mass and maybe another state) we only pay sales taxes on contract price.

If I paid $399 for iPhone 6 plus 64gb in Florida. I would only pay $24-28 sales taxes (depending on the county sales taxes added to the 6% base rate).

But with ATT next. I will be paying $850 x 6-7% sales taxes.

That an added $30 cost in taxes.

 

[mhdena]

Its amazing how many people still think Next is better for them.

Its better for AT&T and no one else.

 

[C DM]

Att is counting on most people not paying the phones off in full. And most people will be kept on installment plans. So it's a deterrent and definitely not emancipation since they don't anticipate people paying their installment plans off early.

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People forget (outside of California and Mass and maybe another state) we only pay sales taxes on contract price.

If I paid $399 for iPhone 6 plus 64gb in Florida. I would only pay $24-28 sales taxes (depending on the county sales taxes added to the 6% base rate).

But with ATT next. I will be paying $850 x 6-7% sales taxes.

That an added $30 cost in taxes.

But then there are upgrade fees involved with contracts while there aren't with something like Next. So the difference is balanced out, and in states where the taxes are paid on the full price anyway, the cost is then less by that much more (by the upgrade fee basically).

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Its amazing how many people still think Next is better for them.

Its better for AT&T and no one else.

Except that basic math simply proves that for those on current plans with enough data it can in fact be cheaper.

 

[mhdena]

Nobody I know pays an upgrade fee, shame on those of you who do.

 

[rui no onna]

Its amazing how many people still think Next is better for them.

Its better for AT&T and no one else.

It's really a case by case basis. I made a spreadsheet before switching to MSV+Next on a 4-line family plan and for us, it was cheaper.

Granted, the difference in TCO between MSV+Next ($6,840) and 2-yr grandfathered ($6,960) was a measly $120. The biggest factor for us is with the new plans, we're not tied to a 2-year upgrade cycle. If we decide to upgrade phones every 3-5 years, we don't have to keep paying the $225/year subsidy already built into 2-year contract plans.

Mind, I won't be bothering with Next financing next time. I just did it to get out of my existing 2-year contract so I can request a free unlock easily. Going forward, I'll be buying the Factory Unlocked version full price from Apple.

 

[C DM]

It's really a case by case basis. I made a spreadsheet before switching to MSV+Next on a 4-line family plan and for us, it was cheaper.

Granted, the difference in TCO between MSV+Next ($6,840) and 2-yr grandfathered ($6,960) was a measly $120. The biggest factor for us is with the new plans, we're not tied to a 2-year upgrade cycle. If we decide to upgrade phones every 3-5 years, we don't have to keep paying the $225/year subsidy already built into 2-year contract plans.

Mind, I won't be bothering with Next financing next time. I just did it to get out of my existing 2-year contract so I can request a free unlock easily. Going forward, I'll be buying the Factory Unlocked version full price from Apple.

Next is pretty much like buying a full price phone, the difference is really that you are just paying it off piece by piece every month instead of all at once (but at any point can pay off the remainder and be done with it basically).

 

[rui no onna]

Next is pretty much like buying a full price phone, the difference is really that you are just paying it off piece by piece every month instead of all at once (but at any point can pay off the remainder and be done with it basically).

True but if I buy the phone full price instead of financing with AT&T, I get the benefit of free extended warranty from the credit card company.

 

[Nhwhazup]

Okay so please enlighten me as I think I'm still confused. Currently I'm on a FAN plan with 450 minutes, 200 texts and unlimited data for $67 per month. I paid I think 299 or 399 for my iPhone 6+ back 2 weeks after launch.

So how much of the 67 per month would be based on paying off my phone?

Any chance ATT would allow my plan to continue and I just pay off the rest of the phone?

If ATT does do away with this plan, I would need to pay off my phone or finance the rest through Next, correct?

I have no problem paying for my phones outright and just pay for a plan and money wise if I put both my husband and me on Next it might not be as bad as I originally thought. I think I need to also do a spreadsheet and compare actuals side by side. Even though we have the unlimited data, we don't use that much. I actually think the both of us could get by with a shared 6 GB and chance going over for a 15 per GB over charge which might only happen on months with heavy travel.

 

[PLin]

Okay so please enlighten me as I think I'm still confused. Currently I'm on a FAN plan with 450 minutes, 200 texts and unlimited data for $67 per month. I paid I think 299 or 399 for my iPhone 6+ back 2 weeks after launch.

So how much of the 67 per month would be based on paying off my phone?

$450 is the subsidy amount, so $18.75 of your $67 is basically paying back the subsidy. You would have to get a rate plan below $50 to make it worth doing NEXT instead.

 

[C DM]

Okay so please enlighten me as I think I'm still confused. Currently I'm on a FAN plan with 450 minutes, 200 texts and unlimited data for $67 per month. I paid I think 299 or 399 for my iPhone 6+ back 2 weeks after launch.

So how much of the 67 per month would be based on paying off my phone?

Any chance ATT would allow my plan to continue and I just pay off the rest of the phone?

If ATT does do away with this plan, I would need to pay off my phone or finance the rest through Next, correct?

I have no problem paying for my phones outright and just pay for a plan and money wise if I put both my husband and me on Next it might not be as bad as I originally thought. I think I need to also do a spreadsheet and compare actuals side by side. Even though we have the unlimited data, we don't use that much. I actually think the both of us could get by with a shared 6 GB and chance going over for a 15 per GB over charge which might only happen on months with heavy travel.

You might not be able to do a contract again, but it's not likely that your plan would be taken away from you. However if you were then to do Next or buy a phone at full price you likely wouldn't get a discount on your lines for having Next or owned equipment.

 

[psac]

Thanks for this thread, will upgrade my wife's phone now, she's grandfathered unlimited, and was still on a 5. We were waiting for the 6S for her, but now we'll pull the trigger on a 6.

 

[pooleman]

I agree with you both. My question is what do we do if they cut off our access to the 2-year contract/subsidized purchase?

If they do away with the subsidy then I will just keep my phone and and continue with my plan. Not giving up unlimited data or my $10 per month 1000 text messages. I will just buy used phones on eBay the way I do for my kid. Then if it breaks I will go to Apple and pay the out of warranty replacement cost. Doing this will just mean that I will get the latest phones two years late.

 

[tecnho]

If they do away with the subsidy then I will just keep my phone and and continue with my plan. Not giving up unlimited data or my $10 per month 1000 text messages. I will just buy used phones on eBay the way I do for my kid. Then if it breaks I will go to Apple and pay the out of warranty replacement cost. Doing this will just mean that I will get the latest phones two years late.

Sounds like a plan. I have not been following other grandfatherd features except my data. I am on the 5 dollar 200 text program- has that been done away with like your 1000 feature as well, or is it still around?

 

[pooleman]

Sounds like a plan. I have not been following other grandfatherd features except my data. I am on the 5 dollar 200 text program- has that been done away with like your 1000 feature as well, or is it still around?

There is no 1000 text option anymore. It's unlimited at $20 a month or $0.10 per text.

 

[tecnho]

There is no 1000 text option anymore. It's unlimited at $20 a month or $0.10 per text.

I am on 200 for $5 with the same .10 for overage. Might as well keep it.

 

[DeftwillP]

Its amazing how many people still think Next is better for them.

Its better for AT&T and no one else.

It's amazing how many people over generalize.

 

[monkey28rb]

I am on 200 for $5 with the same .10 for overage. Might as well keep it.

I have $39.99 unlimited talk $10 unlimited text and $30 unlimited data. $80 before employer discount.

 

[tecnho]

I have $39.99 unlimited talk $10 unlimited text and $30 unlimited data. $80 before employer discount.

Nice. I have a similar FAN plan and I got them to keep my uverse intro promo going as well, but I like your text plan- hold on to that one.

 

[MaskedCarrot]

I work in the cell phone industry, and you guys have it wrong for the most part.

Now under circumstances, AT&T Next or Verizon Edge aren't good ideas, but in other ways it's a great idea.

For example, on Verizon, when you are on a 6 gig or higher More Everything Plan, you get a $25 monthly discount for doing a phone on Edge.

So a 64 gig iPhone 6, which is normally $31.24 on edge, but you get that $25 monthly discount for doing Edge, so it's pretty much like you're paying $6.24 a month for the phone. So in the end, after 24 months, you would have only paid $149.76 for the phone, plus you do not pay the $40 upgrade fee.

How is that a bad thing? If you do a 2 year contract, you pay $299 for the phone and $40 for the upgrade fee up front. By doing Edge, you're saving basically $190. That sure seems like a good deal to me.

And you can upgrade earlier than 24 months if you want.

 

[hlfway2anywhere]

There's one caveat to this rumor and i'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it.

Right now, you can only have up to 4 AT&T Next installment plans per ACCOUNT. not per plan, but per ACCOUNT.

So while you can have up to 10 users on a mobile share plan and you can have more than one mobile share plan, you can still only have 4 device on installment plans. With this change, everyone else on the plan would have to pay outright. People aren't going to do that in the U.S. -- at least not without a good amount of complaining and delays while they figure out how they're going to pay $450 more than they had expected.

 

[rui no onna]

I work in the cell phone industry, and you guys have it wrong for the most part.

Now under circumstances, AT&T Next or Verizon Edge aren't good ideas, but in other ways it's a great idea.

For example, on Verizon, when you are on a 6 gig or higher More Everything Plan, you get a $25 monthly discount for doing a phone on Edge.

So a 64 gig iPhone 6, which is normally $31.24 on edge, but you get that $25 monthly discount for doing Edge, so it's pretty much like you're paying $6.24 a month for the phone. So in the end, after 24 months, you would have only paid $149.76 for the phone, plus you do not pay the $40 upgrade fee.

How is that a bad thing? If you do a 2 year contract, you pay $299 for the phone and $40 for the upgrade fee up front. By doing Edge, you're saving basically $190. That sure seems like a good deal to me.

And you can upgrade earlier than 24 months if you want.

Discount only applies to Verizon More Everything and AT&T Mobile Share Value plans. If you're grandfathered to older plans, Edge and Next don't make sense. Another thing, you're not really paying $149.76 for the phone. It just so happens that most cellular plans have the subsidy built-in to the plan cost (making the plans way more expensive than they should be). I view the monthly discounts on off-contract lines to just be a correction on plan pricing to separate service costs from device subsidies.

 

[monkey28rb]

There's one caveat to this rumor and i'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it.

Right now, you can only have up to 4 AT&T Next installment plans per ACCOUNT. not per plan, but per ACCOUNT.

So while you can have up to 10 users on a mobile share plan and you can have more than one mobile share plan, you can still only have 4 device on installment plans. With this change, everyone else on the plan would have to pay outright. People aren't going to do that in the U.S. -- at least not without a good amount of complaining and delays while they figure out how they're going to pay $450 more than they had expected.

No you can have up to 10 lines on Next now.

 

[ohio.emt]

I don't see this happening AT&T has always been good about keeping past plans. They still allow you to get a subsidy on a phone for plans that haven't been offered for 10 years. If they did this they would lose a lot of customers. Including me I'd either go t-mobile or an mnvo next would cost more then twice as much as my current plan.

 

[hlfway2anywhere]

No you can have up to 10 lines on Next now.

Really? Because this is what AT&Ts fine print says right on the website.

 

[monkey28rb]

Really? Because this is what AT&Ts fine print says right on the website.

Interesting why it says that. I know for a fact one can have up to 10 lines with NEXT on a personal account.

Also from what I am hearing, ATT will soon start changing its signage in stores for only NEXT, not sure of ETA.