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AT&T to Stop Offering Two-Year Phone Contracts Starting January 8
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I paid $299 for my iPhone 5s 2 years ago with a 2-year plan... grandfathered into unlimited data... $65 a month.
These NEXT plans are designed to rape people that don't understand the value of actually paying for something up front.
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As opposed to fronting the entire $650+ for a 0% loan to the consumer for 30 months, as you get with Next?
Yeah, your math doesn't quite work there.
Hope this doesn't migrate into Canada - I'm loving my 2-year "subsidized" Telus contracts wherein they give me a further 60% hardware kick back - a new iPhone every 2 years does it for me.
As I said, nobody forces them to upgrade to new phones every two years. And if they don't use smartphones, they get the reduced access fee. You don't have to use a Next installment plan with Mobile Share. In fact, using your phone (smartphone or not) for a long time rather than constantly upgrading is one of the best ways to save money. With the Mobile Share plans everybody can choose whether they want to upgrade or not.
If the whole plan were to become less expensive for your mom, I'm sure she'd be happy to share the savings with you. That's why you should check how the total plan costs compare. And if you need more than 2GB, you can go up to the next tier.
Well, you seem to have made up your mind without even checking the real numbers.
But I didn't pay anything when I walked out of the store with a new phone! The phone was free! They actually lowered the price from $199 to free! Lol
I will do exactly the same. I'm in a lucky situation, I have 100x2 unlimited t-mo plan which I use for int. roaming only. I'm going to port my numbers over the T-mo numbers.
Att is going to be alone soon cleaning snow fro Direct TV antenna
DISCONNECT THIS SEASON LOLOLOL
http://about.att.com/newsroom/put_down_the_phone_for_the_holidays.html
I pay $65 a month... unlimited data, 650 minutes voice and the minimum text plan. Phone cost me $299 2 years ago (64GB iPhone 5s).
So this NEXT plan is absolute garbage to me.
I pay $65 a month, paid $299 for my phone on a 2-year contract (unlimited data as well)... thats a total of $1859 over 24 months. So, over that 2-year plan... its approx $77.45 a month for unlimited data...
The problem is, I DONT NEED A NEW PHONE EVERY YEAR.... Im now out of contract and it only costing me $65 a month, which lowers my total price per month the longer I keep my 2 year old phone.
The problem is, the entitled generation doesn't understand the value of anything... just "what can I get now".
They want you paying $100.00/mo for the service, and a perpetual monthly fee (subscription) for the phone. They will let you upgrade, but you'll essentially be renting your phone. Remember back in the old days when you didn't actually own your landline, but rented it? Back when AT&T had a monopoly? Well, it's going back to that.
And are these jokers in AT&T gonna lower the bill now that they don't subsidize the phones?
Heck no!
How can some companies get away with murders like these?
Heck no!
How can some companies get away with murders like these?
File a complaint with the FCC here (although I'm not sure if AT&T is doing anything wrong here) https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=39744
Actually, that's exactly what AT&T does - they lower the bill. I'm on a family plan with 5 lines and every line on a NEXT plan has a monthly discount. It's actually cheaper to have 5 NEXT lines than 5 two-year contracts. Even with payments for 5 iPhones. The discount for using NEXT makes the plan quite comparable, and if you keep the phone longer than two years (aka paying it off in full) then it gets even cheaper per month.
If you're on an unlimited plan, that's a different story, but for family plans, I don't see where NEXT is more expensive...
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Let see your math/logic.
What's a better deal for AT&T? pay $450 upfront for your device or have you pay for your device yourself in full and pick up the interest portion only?
Me too and people don't think subsidized phones are a good deal. I upgraded to the iPhone 6s 64gb from a 5s and only paid $99 plus tax with my subsidized unlimited data plan after I sold my 5s. My bill is currently around $140.00 a month for two iPhones with unlimited data.
Next time I will do the Apple plan.
Oh wow...had no idea that AT&T was still around or that people still used them for phone service. Weird.
It's simple. In one case ATT pays $450 for your device up front (you pay $200) and you slowly pay them back over two years through inflated fees for wireless service.
In the other case, ATT pays $650 for your device up front and you slowly pay them back over two years through equal installments on a 0% loan.
In the latter case, ATT is out more cash at the beginning, they are loaning it to you for free in exchange for purchasing service from them.
The Next plans may or may not be a better deal than the legacy stuff dependent on individual circumstances, but the assertion that they come out way ahead by offering 0% loans on the full cost of devices is just plain silly.
I have an employer supplied phone running custom apps. It has unlimited data, unlimited Verizon to Verizon minutes, but charges for text and non-Verizon calls. And we are still on the normal upgrade cycles. You have an option to pay $15 a month and use the phone as your personal phone as well. We also get 28% off on our Verizon bills for our personal phones. They offered me an early upgrade, but it would be on a payment plan for the phone. Not really interested. I'm just waiting until my contract runs out for the per-line charge to drop from $40 to $20. Maybe I'll splurge for some more data. I think it sucks that they are only giving the bigger plans the free 2GB per month for life.
well it says in the article that the only two options are Next or no-commitment
I just found out that T-mobile is offering 4 lines of unlimited data for $180.
It's in the fine print below.
http://www.t-mobile.com/offer/family-data-plans.html
Actually, it has nothing to do with renting or leasing. Next is a zero-interest, zero-down installment plan. You can either pay the phone off normally, or trade it for a new one after a certain number of installments. If you pay it off it's yours to keep.