AT&T to Stop Offering Two-Year Phone Contracts Starting January 8

[ToroidalZeus]

I hope I'm wrong but will the iPhone still be locked into ATT after cancellation? Or will they unlock it so that I can move over to TMobile?

Try unlocking it right now.

https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/#/

A lot of time you can unlock it before the contact is even fully expired. All 3 of my iPhone 6 are unlocked while my 2 6s won't unlock.

If it wont unlock you can purchase an unlock or wait till after your final cancellation goes through.

Well, even if you stay on your current plan, you will lose all subsidies as of January 8.

worse. I'll have to pay 10 dollars more for the increased data fee. I guess this is the end. I switched from Verizon to get the iPhone on AT&T and now T-Mobile has clearly the best plan. 180 a month for 4 lines of unlimited every aka 20GB data. I'll save about 60 a month.

 

[michael31986]

So will we not be able to keep unlimited data with next. If not then why ev n bother raising unlimited data price if I can't keep it.

 

[kagharaht]

Try unlocking it right now.

https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/#/

A lot of time you can unlock it before the contact is even fully expired. All 3 of my iPhone 6 are unlocked while my 2 6s won't unlock.

If it wont unlock you can purchase an unlock or wait till after your final cancellation goes through.

Well I just renewed my 2 year contract in September 2015 and I'm grandfathered from the original iPhone unlimited plan. So I guess, after Feb when we can do our termination without the ETF, I'll have to request AT&T to unlock it. I then have to hope that AT&T doesn't become a PITA after the fact and take its time unlocking my phone. If that happens, it would mean that I won't have a usable phone until AT&T gets around to unlock it. I'll definitely do this at the AT&T Storefront and avoid potential problems.

 

[ToroidalZeus]

Well I just renewed my 2 year contract in September 2015 and I'm grandfathered from the original iPhone unlimited plan. So I guess, after Feb when we can do our termination without the ETF, I'll have to request AT&T to unlock it. I then have to hope that AT&T doesn't become a PITA after the fact and take its time unlocking my phone. If that happens, it would mean that I won't have a usable phone until AT&T gets around to unlock it. I'll definitely do this at the AT&T Storefront and avoid potential problems.

Have you confirmed that yet? We have 60 days after the chance to cancel yes true. But it's quite possible we can cancel right now regardless. The announcement serves as a grace period for us to cancel our service since they changed the plans . I'll call myself to confirm soon. But ya legally I am pretty sure we can cancel right now.

 

[macfoxpro]

But will I still be able to get unlimited on The Google?
Perhaps I will just search that on The Google.

 

[Pman17]

yea, i was at AT&T in October and they were telling me about this plan next year. The reason is the legal contract stuff for the 2 year plans are outdated. They said they don't want people to feel obligated to the carrier to where they could switch anytime to other carriers as long as they pay off their NEXT plan. All of the other carriers are going this route and nowadays it's sorta the standard to get a new phone every year anyways.

My mother was tricked into going to the family plan and we lost our unlimited by giving us a free hotspot. Wish I was there at the time to say no. For me, I did some comparisons with a friend on their bill and mine. They had NEXT and we had 2 year agreements and some non-contract phones with the mobile share plan. The NEXT stuff looks like a good deal for my situation. We got in on that limited time 30GB month share plan as well last year which they don't do anymore. The rollovers are great as well. Sometimes we get 50GB a month from that. My parent's don't use much data either so we have plenty of data to not worry about going over.

I think when you compare NEXT and the 2 year. They're pretty much the same. 2 year you had to pay up front $200 for the phone then the monthly installment fees. After that your resell your phone and get the next one under contract for free.
With Next you don't need to pay a big chunk up front and you return your phone back to AT&T. Much easier just to give back your phone for a new one to AT&T rather than put the effort to selling it. If you want to keep the phone and own it, then just pay the rest.
Also with NEXT you have to have insurance which is like $6 a month. So why Pay for Apple care up front as well?

Though I just bought my own hotspot and got rid of the AT&T hotspot. I'm using a Karma Go which is $50 a month for Unlimited on Sprint's LTE/Clear Network. Not bad! Here's my referral code if anyone is interested... https://yourkarma.com/invite/pearso4296

 

[mdlooker]

Welp there goes my free phone every two years from selling the older model. Monthly price won't change one cent unless I go with that crappy installment plan. smh

The "subsidy" was baked into the cost of the data plan. You were paying AT&T back, and then some. If you were on an MVNO you'd easily pay half of the monthly cost and save yourself hundreds of $$ over a two-year period.

All of these statements of this sort throughout. Please please please tell me how my monthly cost is going to decrease now? My talk, message, data rates remain the same. How is it that anything changes for the better now?

 

[outphase]

All of these statements of this sort throughout. Please please please tell me how my monthly cost is going to decrease now? My talk, message, data rates remain the same. How is it that anything changes for the better now?

It was baked in, and it cannot be taken out unless you select one of the newer mobile share plans that do not include the device subsidy. Old prices were structured around contract upgrades such that they effectively covered the $450 that you were saving on the cost of the phone. Old plans have never gone down in price when you fulfill a contract. Any subsidy value is effectively free profit for the carrier after you finish your contract without upgrading again.

 

[outphase]

So will we not be able to keep unlimited data with next. If not then why ev n bother raising unlimited data price if I can't keep it.

You can keep it with Next. You'll just end up paying extra for the phone.

 

[ToroidalZeus]

This probabaly doesnt help a lot of people but apperently T-Mobile has a business department. They are offering 350 in credit per line switched. No Uncarrier ETF cancellation tho. Offer ends tomorrow.

https://business.t-mobile.com/offer/business-switch-to-t-mobile-and-get-350-back.html

 

[mdlooker]

It was baked in, and it cannot be taken out unless you select one of the newer mobile share plans that do not include the device subsidy. Old prices were structured around contract upgrades such that they effectively covered the $450 that you were saving on the cost of the phone. Old plans have never gone down in price when you fulfill a contract. Any subsidy value is effectively free profit for the carrier after you finish your contract without upgrading again.

I'll be paying astronomically more if I were to go to those share plans. Even if the cost was "baked" in back in the day, it still is a win for me because my plan price will remain the same no matter what unless I opt to take a 50 buck increase w/o considering the forced installment plan should I not buy outright. See my comparison chart.. I'd be a fool to move a muscle on my current plan.

 

[mdlooker]

Why is this simple math so hard for people to understand?

There are a group of people (me included) that sign up for a 2-year contract once available and get a phone for $199, $299, or $399 (depending on capacity of the device).
They then pay a monthly fee for use ($65 in my case) of the service. In two years, if I decide to get a new phone, I will. If not (why upgrade to a new device if my existing one is workmen fine?) I just keep paying my $65!

How am I getting ripped off? How is it cheaper to keep paying a monthly fee of ~$20 for a device that I can just pay $200 for up front and be done with?

The problem (I think) is that people just keep assuming that everyone wants a new phone every year. I went 3 years with my iPhone 4 because I didn't feel I needed to upgrade immediately just for Siri features.

Correct..
I upgraded my phone when I was eligible for a full upgrade (equates to $299 for 64G) every 2 years. Sell my old phone for $180 or so and I'll end up paying a net of ~120. My monthly price remains the same no matter what. Still keep my unlimited talk, unlimited text, unlimited data.

If I were to go to the mobile share avenue, I'm paying $50 more a month, plus the cost of the full retail value of the phone, or installments above that $50. Also, lose my unlimited data to gain a hotspot.

 

[dampfnudel]

Are you kidding? Of course they can still use that price. Virtually everyone with leases and payment plans lists either the monthly or the down payment price, not the total price.

How can they use the $199, 299 and 399 pricing if it doesn't exist anymore? Sure, they can list something like starting at $22 a month for AT&T, starting at $21 a month for Verizon, etc. I just think that becomes convoluted and more to the point makes it more obvious to the consumer that Apple is trying to mask the full price when introducing them. Maybe that's a byproduct of Apple's overpricing guilt.

 

[dampfnudel]

I'm curious how many millions of AT&T residential customers are on a contract right now. I'm sure many of them who don't pay close attention to sites like this will be surprised when they try to get a "subsidized" iPhone 6c/mini this April or 7 later in the year only to discover their only options are full, Next or nothing.

 

[mdlooker]

I'm curious how many millions of AT&T residential customers are on a contract right now. I'm sure many of them who don't pay close attention to sites like this will be surprised when they try to get a "subsidized" iPhone 6c/mini this April or 7 later in the year only to discover their only options are full, Next or nothing.

They're going to be pissed and do something irrational like jump ship w/o analyzing their area to see if it's beneficial for them to do it. In semi-desolate areas that could be terminal. I don't like that I now have to pay full price for a phone but I realize that other weaker carriers in my area will be more of a heartache.

 

[ToroidalZeus]

I'm curious how many millions of AT&T residential customers are on a contract right now. I'm sure many of them who don't pay close attention to sites like this will be surprised when they try to get a "subsidized" iPhone 6c/mini this April or 7 later in the year only to discover their only options are full, Next or nothing.

When I bought my 6s, I asked the rep what percentage of ppl still get 2 yrs. He said about $10. Most people have converted off the contract which is why AT&T can finally do this now.

 

[vmistery]

I wonder if us Brits will start seeing fewer 2 year contracts soon because of this?

 

[cnick6]

That's the last straw for me… I'm dropping AT&T after my current contract.

The sad thing is that only T-Mob is left and they've just been caught throttling data. We're getting screwed by all of these carriers quite frankly.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Is her company still paying the bill (i.e., a Corporate Responsibility User)? If not, you're considered an Individual Responsibility User (IRU) and are ineligible for the contract upgrades.

I thought the FAQ screenshot in the OP says IRU is eligible? Or is there a difference between Custom IRU and IRU?

 

[Daniel L]

I think this will finally push me off of my current AT&T plan.

I've been keeping a grandfathered unlimited plan with a corp discount for $72 a month or so.

I'm rarely using my full 5gb of "unlimited", but my usage has been creeping up, and any other plan was still around $50 for 5gb.

It's actually 22GB now, makes it that much harder to give up for me.

 

[BentTable123]

2 year contacts were a lot more transparent. All the pricing was lumped into a monthly payment of $60-$70 and you could change the number of minutes and text and have unlimited data which people actually wanted. Now they give you limited data which no one wants and unlimited talk which no one wants and it costs more than ever.

 

[jimmirehman]

I hope this means they are going to lift the 4 line limit on Next Plans

Starting on January 8, 2016, AT&T plans to introduce a "pricing simplification effort" that will see the end of device subsidies and two-year contracts. According to an internal training document shared by Engadget, new and existing AT&T customers will only be able to purchase a smartphone at full price or with an AT&T Next payment plan going forward.

As outlined in the document, the new rules apply to all of the phones that AT&T sells, including smartphones and more basic devices, which will be paid for using new installment plans. More information on how AT&T will handle corporate accounts and non-smartphone devices like tablets and wearables will become available after an official announcement from AT&T, but it appears certain corporate users will be able to continue making two-year contract purchases.

The shift away from two-year contracts and iPhone subsidies began with T-Mobile in 2013, when the company introduced its Un-carrier payment plans uncoupling device costs from plan costs. Verizon followed suit in August of 2015, debuting new smartphone rate plans and eliminating its subsidized two-year contract option for new users.

Existing Verizon customers can still renew their two-year contracts, but AT&T's no-contract implementation is more extreme and will not offer existing customers the option to keep their contracts once they expire.

AT&T has already been working on shifting away from two-year contracts by pushing its Next plans. In June of 2015, AT&T forced Apple and other third-party retailers to remove the option to purchase AT&T phones with a two-year contract, leaving customers with AT&T Next or a full-priced smartphone as their only third-party purchase options.

Update: AT&T has confirmed its plans to stop offering two-year contracts in a statement given to Re/code.

Article Link: AT&T to Stop Offering Two-Year Phone Contracts Starting January 8

 

[SkydiveGuy]

This thread is boring me now...

Bottom line is:

If the 2-year contract was truly a "rip off" for its customers, AT&T would not be eliminating them.

The only reason these are going away is because its not making them money. They haven't advertised them in 2 years to keep people from even thinking about them.

At the end of the day, AT&T is a corporation who's primary concern is increasing shareholder value and not saving the customer money.

 

[benh911f]

I'm on a family plan.
If I wanted to use a family member's upgrade before time is up, do I need to inform AT&T it will be on my line, or can I just order the upgrade through their line and swap out the sim of my phone?

 

[Arndroid]

You're better off buying a used unlocked iPhone and getting service through a low-cost MVNO. I pay $27/mo including taxes for my iPhone plan through Consumer Cellular, and my iPhone is a gently used iPhone 5S which I paid half the price than getting a brand new one.

Yeah but I have an I phone 6s that I pay about $20 a month for...