Close. I don't think they flat out took away the option for contract if you had one prior, but admittedly those people are just grandfathered in, all new customers are forced to go lease. ATT I think just took even that choice away from its existing customers. Yeah, I'm splitting hairs some....it's basically the same change, especially long term.
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AT&T to Stop Offering Two-Year Phone Contracts Starting January 8
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Yep. This whole change is to get rid of us longtime original iPhone users. Those saying we are paying more with our Grandfathered plans are full of it. Hot air, no substance just BS!
Going from the AT&T family plan (550 shared minutes, unlimited data and texting on 3 lines, where I renewed each line every two years when the new iPhone 4/5/6 came out) and now losing my contract subsidy and charging me $15 more per month to keep unlimited data, and switching to T-Mobile, where I'd still buy phones outright every two years, will save me over $1600 every two years.
I'm leaving AT&T in February, no question.
I'm leaving AT&T in February, no question.
Good luck working out the costs, as many herein know it's harder than figuring out a car lease deal.
It depends on your data use. For grandfathered unlimited data plan holders, the contract price is cheaper in most cases. For example, a 25GB shared plan with two phones is $205/m or $4920 for 24 months. Two 64gb phones on NEXT18 (24 installments to own) are $62.50, so $1500 for two years. That's a total of $6420.
For comparison, my grandfathered plan costs me $160 for two phones, unlimited data. I paid 2x $300 to get the phones, so $600.
24 x $160 = $3840
$3840 + $600 = $4440
That is damn near $2k less than ATT Next plan. Still think you "get it"?
Man, you're talking about price increases on plans (that for the most part) haven't seen a price increase since the EDGE days back in 2007/2008. Meanwhile, data speeds on those plans have increased from EDGE speeds (50-150 kbps) to LTE speeds (5-30 mbps). That's 100-200x faster data.
I know it's not cool to play devil's advocate when the other side is a company like AT&T, but dang, your post really seems to have a lot of animosity towards them when they've done far better than any other company I can think of (in terms of having increased their service over the past eight years with no real price increases to the folks on grandfathered plans originally priced out back in 2007).
Honestly, I'm surprised how many seem unable to do basic math. Cell contracts are almost ALWAYS a big ripoff aimed at people who can't multiply or save for retirement.
My rough math puts a family of 5 with smartphones and 15 gigs to share at 175 plus taxes and junk fees, so let's say 200 a month (this is without subsidized phones)
Cricket wireless, same exact company/network would cost this same family 100 a month for 12.5 gigs of data, no extra fees or taxes, and no risk of overages. Only downside is they suck a bit more (both suck) when you call support.
This is a savings of 2400 every two year contract period. Each person except one could throw their 600 dollar phone in the river every year and get a new one and still come out ahead. Only good reason to sign a contract is if you live somewhere with notoriously bad service so have to go with Verizon, or you need ATT roaming service or international roaming.
I just see no reason why people go to the big carriers except inability to do a bit of research and a herd mentality. The fact that people seem to only be able to argue the cheapest way to be taken advantage of by att speaks to the scary power of advertising (don't even want to begin to apply this to mass political thought). Take your extra 150 a month you saved by going prepaid and having last years iPhone and retire someday. Rant over.
My rough math puts a family of 5 with smartphones and 15 gigs to share at 175 plus taxes and junk fees, so let's say 200 a month (this is without subsidized phones)
Cricket wireless, same exact company/network would cost this same family 100 a month for 12.5 gigs of data, no extra fees or taxes, and no risk of overages. Only downside is they suck a bit more (both suck) when you call support.
This is a savings of 2400 every two year contract period. Each person except one could throw their 600 dollar phone in the river every year and get a new one and still come out ahead. Only good reason to sign a contract is if you live somewhere with notoriously bad service so have to go with Verizon, or you need ATT roaming service or international roaming.
I just see no reason why people go to the big carriers except inability to do a bit of research and a herd mentality. The fact that people seem to only be able to argue the cheapest way to be taken advantage of by att speaks to the scary power of advertising (don't even want to begin to apply this to mass political thought). Take your extra 150 a month you saved by going prepaid and having last years iPhone and retire someday. Rant over.
You are still able to sell your phone at the end of the two year free financing on programs like Next. Choose to upgrade after end of contract, apply the value of your phone to new phone price, start over. Or sell your phone, pay for new phone, continue with your plan with no phone payments. Another option keep phone longer, say another year, with no phone payments for that year. Additionally you have the option of paying it off early and moving to another carrier if you choose and early upgrade if the phone you have is not meeting your needs. Never ideal with these guys but better then the old two year contract.
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Internaut
macrumors 65816
This. Here in Old Europe: gently used (pretty much pristine) iPhone 6, plus 12 month, SIM only contract providing unlimited texts, minutes and 20Gb 4G data, at £16 per month (USD 23.6).
i've been doing that since 2009...pay the 200-300 up front, but even after two years, my monthly bill never changes. my bill isn't lowered when the two-year contract is up. any idea why that is?
This is bad news for perennial iPhone users. It will be a shock to them when they come to renew their plan and find out that they gotta drop close to a grand instead of $200 up front. I see more and more going the anti-Apple route as they will find that you can buy most Android phones or Windows phones that are of comparable quality/tech at full price for much much less.
Disclaimer part of Cricket's main page says that if you're an AT&T customer, you can't port your number over to them. That's likely an issue for many folks.
Of course you pay extra. Look at the price of a plan on a two year contract, and the price of a plan with no two year contract. Phone companies are not subsidizing anything. Never have been. They've been underwriting your financing. That's all. And the crap of it is that your bill wasn't going down after the two years.
what are you talking about? they're not going to have to pay anything up front
Because the subsidize fee for the smart phone was processed the first two years in monthly fees. You just didn't pay attention to your bills!
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I'd guess most people would choose to use AT&T Next to pay monthly for their phone vs. paying full price. They're going to pay sales tax up front then, instead of $199+.
Yes, but that option still doesn't make it a lease. Basically AT&T allows you pay off the installment plan by returning the old phone (which has some residual value). Then you start a new installment plan for the new phone. It's just a convenience for people who don't like the hassle of selling the old phone on their own.
It's not lease-to-own since you don't have to purchase the phone at the end of the installment plan. You fully own it.
It depends on your credit no? If you have poor credit (ie students), you may not be able to get a Next plan with 0 down payment.
There is no contract. You can get out anytime by paying off the remaining installments, and then the phone is yours. That's not the case for a lease contract.
The only thing being changed by ATT is the cellphone use cost is being split from the cost of the phone purchase loan.
Why anyone would complain about that is beyond me.
Why is this so hard for people to sort out?
This change over is a GOOD thing for customers.
No longer will one have to continue paying for their phone after their contract is up... They can pay for the service by itself.
For those of you who don't understand-- when you buy a "subsidized" phone for $199 on a two year contract, AT&T charges a little bit each month on your bill to make up the rest of the cost. So if you pay $199 up front and then $20/month for the phone over the next 30 months, you're paying $600 on top of the $199 for the phone, so $799 plus taxes.
When you buy a phone on AT&T Next, you put down only the taxes on the phone and then pay $25 or so a month for the next 24 or 30 months, depending on how long you want to finance the phone for. When the phone is paid off, you can get a new one, or you can continue to use it, minus $25 on your bill each month. On top of this, you get a $15-$25 discount on your bill based on the data package you choose.
Scenario #1 - Two Year Contract
$199 up front plus taxes, roughly $216.
$40 a month for unlimited talk and text.
$20 for data share plan.
"taxes and surcharges"
-----------------------------------------------
$216 up front plus $60/month for one line, plus taxes.
Scenario #2 - AT&T NEXT
Taxes up front - Roughly $60.
$40 a month for unlimited talk and text.
$20 for a data share plan.
$25 for the phone financing each month.
Minus $15 discount for choosing AT&T NEXT
"taxes and surcharges"
---------------------------------------------------------
Total is $60 up front and $70 a month. You pay $10 more a month but save $156 up front.
After the 24 or 30 months, your bill drops to $45 a month.
(Both the $60 and $45 don't include taxes either).
This change over is a GOOD thing for customers.
No longer will one have to continue paying for their phone after their contract is up... They can pay for the service by itself.
For those of you who don't understand-- when you buy a "subsidized" phone for $199 on a two year contract, AT&T charges a little bit each month on your bill to make up the rest of the cost. So if you pay $199 up front and then $20/month for the phone over the next 30 months, you're paying $600 on top of the $199 for the phone, so $799 plus taxes.
When you buy a phone on AT&T Next, you put down only the taxes on the phone and then pay $25 or so a month for the next 24 or 30 months, depending on how long you want to finance the phone for. When the phone is paid off, you can get a new one, or you can continue to use it, minus $25 on your bill each month. On top of this, you get a $15-$25 discount on your bill based on the data package you choose.
Scenario #1 - Two Year Contract
$199 up front plus taxes, roughly $216.
$40 a month for unlimited talk and text.
$20 for data share plan.
"taxes and surcharges"
-----------------------------------------------
$216 up front plus $60/month for one line, plus taxes.
Scenario #2 - AT&T NEXT
Taxes up front - Roughly $60.
$40 a month for unlimited talk and text.
$20 for a data share plan.
$25 for the phone financing each month.
Minus $15 discount for choosing AT&T NEXT
"taxes and surcharges"
---------------------------------------------------------
Total is $60 up front and $70 a month. You pay $10 more a month but save $156 up front.
After the 24 or 30 months, your bill drops to $45 a month.
(Both the $60 and $45 don't include taxes either).
I have two 64GB iPhones on my 6GB shared data plan. I got both of them through payment options. One through VZW, at $31.25 per month, with no money down. The other through Apple's Upgrade program, for $36.58 per month, including Apple Care, which I would have bought anyway. If I would have bought either of those phones on contract I would have paid $200 each to get them out the door. When I got each "unsubsidized" phone Verizion dropped the price of my monthly access for each phone from $40 to $15. At the end of two years (assuming I pay out each phone and keep them both for the full two years) I will have paid $750 for the phone that Verizon financed, and $878 for the iPhone I got through the Apple Upgrade program ($750 for the phone, plus $129 for Apple Care). Total, real cost for both phones will be $1628.
Under contract, paying the extra $25 per month for access on each phone, the $400 down payment and the $129 for Apple Care my total out of pocket for the phones would have been $1729.
What is Verizon charging you on monthly access fees for your phone? If it's $40 I think you will find that they will, in fact drop it should you bring a phone to them that they are not "subsidizing."