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AT&T Activation Fee for Contract Customers Rising to $45, New $15 Fee for 'Next' Customers
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It almost seems like Verizon is cheaper and in my area their coverage is better.
I have 3 lines. 2 iPhones and 1 dumb phone. Unlimited talk and text. 3GB data. $160 per month (1 iPhone is on next).
I have 3 lines. 2 iPhones and 1 dumb phone. Unlimited talk and text. 3GB data. $160 per month (1 iPhone is on next).
Yeah your broadband situation is really bad it seems
We also have one cable provider, but luckily we're a small country so fiber is creeping up everywhere, driving cable prices down. To bad the US seems to be against regulation, since that helped us tremendously when there really was only one option.
He might be referring to the fact that SoftBank owns ~80%, but they are still a United States based company.
ATT can kiss my azzz in the next upgrade because they wont see my 3 lines again. T-Mo, here I come. ATT, thanks for the free MicroCell you sent me last time because your coverage sucked in my area. I'll eBay it.
Beginning August 1, AT&T will raise its activation/upgrade fee for customers signing up for a one- or two-year contract, alongside introducing a specific activation fee for all AT&T Next and Bring-Your-Own-Phone customers.
According to sources speaking with Droid Life, the new contract upgrade fee will increase from $40 to $45, while the activation cost for Next and BYOP customers will be $15. If true, AT&T will have the highest activation fee amongst its competitors. Other carriers, like Verizon, sit around a $40 upgrade fee cost currently.
With the uptick in price for the carrier's contract activation charges, AT&T is changing its installment plan option, AT&T Next, from a no-cost-to-start service to requiring a $15 activation fee. The same $15 charge will be placed for customers interested in activating a new line of service with the BYOP program, which lets customers save money on their yearly contracts by bringing in a phone purchased elsewhere to avoid paying full-price.
It appears that AT&T will grandfather in existing AT&T Next customers who have a plan with the company prior to August 1, and won't be charged the $15 fee on their next upgrade. However, the carrier noted that this policy is "subject to change," meaning existing Next customers may be facing the $15 charge sometime down the line of their upgrade cycle, if not immediately after the changes take effect.
Article Link: AT&T Activation Fee for Contract Customers Rising to $45, New $15 Fee for 'Next' Customers
Verizon has been good to me since I signed up. But I wish I could just get rid of everything but dumb pipes going straight to my phone for like $50/mo. The charges are getting to be too expensive. They don't just nickle and dime us everywhere. They $50 bill us everywhere for every little thing. We're to the point where if we don't have a smart phone we're not competitive with our peers, so you have to have one to survive in this economy. They know they have us over a barrel. The only thing you can do is switch to a cheaper competitor, but then again you often have to deal with a crappier network which again puts you at a disadvantage. I know if I had to choose between an iPhone and my car I'd have to go with the iPhone.
I will never understand the fee companies use to charge their customers to stay with them. I am so glad I switched and left ATT. They may have had decent service, but customer service was horrible and their plans were almost as high as Verizon. Now I pay 70% less with more features (unlimited everything vs 6gbs and 400 mins) and have the same quality of service in my area... Oh and I won't have to pay $45 when I upgrade my phone.
This is the latest and greatest incentive by AT&T to encourage users to switch...
To another carrier!
To another carrier!
I'm not an AT&T customer, but I refuse to pay activation fees. I tell that to the people in the phone store right up front, and if they say they can't do it I ask to speak to their manager. If they can't do it I walk out. Haven't paid an activation fee in years.
Activation fees are like a cover charge in a bar to me. You want my money? Prove to me that you have something that's worth paying for.
Activation fees are like a cover charge in a bar to me. You want my money? Prove to me that you have something that's worth paying for.
Basically, we used to have a lot more mobile providers, such as:
Cingulair
Next Wireless
Pacific Bell
The list goes on and on, but the regulators decided that letting four of the companies buy out all the others was a good idea. Now our primary players are:
AT&T
T-Mobile
Sprint
Verizon
None of them ever seemed to want to lower the prices of their plans, so what would happen is one would come up with a gimmick. Some offered unlimited incoming calls, some offered a fave 5, where you picked 5 contacts and calls to them wouldn't count against your minutes, some offered any mobile to any mobile. But generally, all plans were around $60 per month for the first line and $15 for each additional line, up to a total of about 5 lines. Then Smart Phones came into the picture and they saw even more dollar signs. Basically you now were offered a $50 base plan, but then you also had to pay $25 for an "unlimited" data plan and the idea of adding additional lines at a lower rate disappeared.
Now you have seen where we are today, but there are now cheaper options, it boils down to many just put up with it, not thinking about checking out the MVNOs. They generally don't go to T-Mobile, because they used to have very poor coverage, but that is now changing very quickly and what many haven't realized yet is T-Mobile now has 4G LTE in more places than AT&T.
But MVNOs are by far the cheapest, we have the likes of:
Republic Wireless (as low as $10/month)
Freedompop (new $5/month plan for unlimited talk & text with 2GB of data)
Cricket Wireless (Around $30/month for unlimited everything)
The list goes on and on, but the cell phone companies have people locked in, either by contract or by paying a monthly fee for their phones and if they leave, the balance becomes due immediately. The cell phone companies know this and exploit it.
Have you checked T-Mobile's coverage lately? They have upped their game a lot in the last 6 months or so. They now have more 4G lTE coverage than AT&T and it's faster.
i don't know. i've been out to rural areas and there will be a huge tower which serves multiple carriers. there are third party tower companies out there.
my guess is that AT&T and VZW went after the family plan market where they have accounts with multiple lines with different expiration dates which are hard to move and plan to make all the money they can.
in my case i'm not planning to upgrade a phone every two years anymore and will probably move to t-mobile and take my existing phones with me. on a 6 line plan i have 3 phones that are on NEXT and looking to keep my phones for 3-5 years from now on and just buy ipads
One major difference is the physical size of the US. The number of towers, land leased for towers, equipment, and maintenance is extremely expensive.
My 2 year runs out with ATT in September, not looking to buy the next iphone so I am seriously thinking of moving to Cricket. I hardly use the phone portion and basically just use the internet which is why I stayed with att and my unlimited. But even that I don't blow past 5gb that often. I'll have to think about this some more, just sick of att and their nonsense.