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

[Toltepeceno]

The price of the phone has NEVER been $200. That's always been the subsidized of the smaller storage capacity model.

And when he quotes the price of the "unlocked" version, THAT is the actual price of the phone.

Pay attention. I **NEVER** said the price of the phone was ever 200. Cook likes to quote the 200.00 subsidized price and not say it's a subsidized price to make it sound cheaper. If carriers do away with the subsidized versions he will no longer be able to say ".....and it only costs 200.00" and mug for the camera.

Jeez.

 

[aristobrat]

Why is this so hard for people to sort out?

FWIW, this is affecting some grandfathered family plans that are significantly cheaper than the examples you gave.

I agree, .. based on AT&T's rates today, Next is almost always the way to go (depending on your shared data size).

But when you compare today's rates to family plans whose prices were set back when the first iPhone came out in 2007, ... Next is almost always way more expensive.

 

[MusicEnthusiast]

What about AT&T premier customers? My fam plan has a discount thru work - how does this go towards the NEXT plans?

Also, my girlfriend's 2 yr ends Feb 26, 2016, meaning she is eligible for an upgrade on Feb 1. Might try to call this week and see if she can upgrade now. Doesn't seem fair they let us know 9 days before they take action. Like, what the hell? Can you give me a damn grace period to digest all this new stuff you're throwin at my family? Utter BS...

 

[khkman22]

Do not re-up if you're planning on leaving in Feb/March. The site said that you get the ETF waived if you last renewed prior to the public announcement. If you renewed after, the ETF applies.

Wow, thanks for that. It does not state that in the email I received and I overlooked that when reading the terms on the site. I was about to upgrade within the next week and then switch to Cricket in March.

 

[Bananas Ananas]

Did you forget to factor in your data plan? There's no way you're getting talk, text and data for $20/mo. TZ's $260/mo does include data plan cost.

I got unlimited talk and text + 2GB of data from T-Mobile. The plan became with 1GB data to begin with, but Apple Music was eating my data plan against their promise of data free streaming and after I complained they bumped me up to 2GB at no additional cost. Now I can also stream music without it going against my data plan.

 

[9512tacoma]

I am on a very old talk plan and text plan with att. My wife's line only cost $5 to add and still is to this day. I got my first iPhone 3GS in 2010. I bought it on the contract for the subsidy plan for $199. My art bill only increased $30 for the data. Every 2 years I get another iPhone on contract for $199 sell the old one to pay for it. My bill has not gone up 1 time since I got the iPhone. The contracts for folks like me with the older plans is costing ATT money so they are eliminating them so we pay full cost for the iPhone. I checked on the next plans my bill would drop $10 but that is before they put the full price of the iphone back on my bill. I then would be paying about $20 more per month. The next plans and shared data might benefit some folks but not all.

 

[aristobrat]

What about AT&T premier customers? My fam plan has a discount thru work - how does this go towards the NEXT plans?

If you switch to a Mobile Share plan, the discount goes towards the data portion.

 

[rdlink]

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?

Probably because you're on a contract. A lot has changed since 2009. Before TMO started shaking things up the only way you got any real "value" on "subsidized" contracts was to renew your contract every two years. Because phone carriers didn't lower your bill once the contract was up. So that ~$25 per month that was built into the contract for your "subsidy" kept going to the carrier even though the costs had been recovered by them. The only way you got any value for your ~$25 per month was to sink it back into another "subsidized" phone, and sign another contract.

Then TMO started offering unbundled, and that put pressure on the other carriers. Now each carrier offers an option to use a non-"subsidized" phone and get a discount.

Know this: If you have been on a contract, and it expires your carrier will not likely automatically drop your montly access fee for that phone. I had to call Verizon when the contract ended on my phone, and tell them to drop the price. I then went and got my phone from Apple through the upgrade program.

 

[Toltepeceno]

Why is this so hard for people to sort out?

This change over is a GOOD thing for customers.

Yes, it's always more expensive to buy a subsidized phone. Don't bother though, I tried exlaining that his os updates are not free because they figure that in and he had a hissy fit. Some people do not care what the phone winds up costing them or others just plain failed economics.

Here it's even greater, the difference. An iphone 6s plus would cost several hundred dollars up front and then something like 100.00 a month in service. I have virgin mobile gsm and I don't even use 5.00 a month in calling, they base it on the second and not the minute and when you receive calls it does not cost. That iphone winds up costing a ton of money, that's why close to 90% do not have contracts here. I know it's not like that in the us, but you still pay for the phone.

I should have added unless it's something like t mobile where you buy the phone from them in payments interest free. Not a bad deal.

 

[rdlink]

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.

Absolutely untrue. Every carrier, and Apple offers a free financing plan for the iPhone. In fact, instead of the $200 down that most would pay this will actually allow them to walk out of the door with no money down.

 

[tbill1]

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).

Please explain how this is GOOD for me? If I don't upgrade my 2 year old Iphone in September, I will be paying the "secret" subsidy continuously into the future on my old Iphone until I replace it. If I replace it, I will be paying $450 more for a new Iphone.

 

[macnewbie91]

FWIW, this is affecting some grandfathered family plans that are significantly cheaper than the examples you gave.

I agree, .. based on AT&T's rates today, Next is almost always the way to go (depending on your shared data size).

But when you compare today's rates to family plans whose prices were set back when the first iPhone came out in 2007, ... Next is almost always way more expensive.

Yeah but what is the percentage of users on their grandfathered plans? Like 1% or .05%?

 

[Toltepeceno]

. Every carrier, and Apple offers a free financing plan for the iPhone. In fact, instead of the $200 down that most would pay this will actually allow them to walk out of the door with no money down.

Every carrier?

They also see what they are paying for the phone instead of it being hidden in the contract. It may not affect a lot of people, but I can see some being turned off by it and possibly going with a cheaper phone. If they see on paper they are paying close to a 1000.00 for a phone (6s plus, mid phone) they may think twice. So I would not say "absolutely untrue" as everyone is different.

 

[macnewbie91]

Please explain how this is GOOD for me? If I don't upgrade my 2 year old Iphone in September, I will be paying the "secret" subsidy continuously in the future on my old Iphone until I replace it. If I replace it, I will be paying $450 more for a new Iphone.

I would need to get more information from you. What plan are you on now?

 

[lordofthereef]

Please explain how this is GOOD for me? If I don't upgrade my 2 year old Iphone in September, I will be paying the "secret" subsidy continuously in the future on my old Iphone until I replace it. If I replace it, I will be paying $450 more for a new Iphone.

I think the person you quoted is going with the assumption that the plan price will be reduced while not in contract. Unsure why. There is no real reason to believe that. It already doesn;t work this way.

 

[HugeTurtle]

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.

Good catch, however that just applies to the gift cards that come with the 'free' phones. If you want to super save you can port to another carrier for a day, then when you port into cricket you will get 100 dollars per line plus you can get a free backup phone/Moto E or whatever. If you'd like to just bring your phone over all you have to buy is a sim card for 5 dollars on Amazon right now. Sure beats ATT's 35 dollar fee just for becoming a customer.

 

[lordofthereef]

I would need to get more information from you. What plan are you on now?

It doesn't matter. No unlimited contracted plan will ever be cheaper. Unless ATT completely backtracks from what they are currently doing with out of contract plans.

Let's say youre paying $70 for your unlimited line and are in contract. Once you are out of contract you still pay $70, however you have the option to get a new subsidized phone. Whether you take that new phone or not, you are still paying $70. Going forward, ATT has removed that subsidy option. You will still be paying $70 a month AND buying your phone outright.

 

[lordofthereef]

Every carrier?

The main non pay as you go carriers do, yes.
ATT, Verizon, Sprint, TMO
Everything else is a smaller pay as you go company.

 

[barkomatic]

I don't understand why people think 2 year contracts under the old grandfathered unlimited plan is a ripoff. Those unlimited data plan contracts (even with the "baked in" subsidy price) is still CHEAPER than any non-contract plan today. The fact that you get a $200 iPhone is just making the cake 10X sweeter.

If you have a single line on an unlimited data plan *and* use a lot of data per month (as I do) then there is no better deal out there that even comes close to the value we get.

However, if you've got a family or you are on a single line and hardly use any data, then the new plans are sometimes better.

In my usage case, which is currently 20-30GB per month even if I have to buy my iPhone outright when I upgrade it will still be the cheaper alternative under the current pricing structures. I invite anyone to show me a plan that includes 30GB's of data and unlimited texts and calls that will go for *less* than $80 total (including tax) per month ($85 in February). If you can find that please show me.

 

[macnewbie91]

I think the person you quoted is going with the assumption that the plan price will be reduced while not in contract. Unsure why. There is no real reason to believe that. It already doesn;t work this way.

That's not at all what I was saying. If I typed it wrong, I apologize, but when the phone agreement is paid off (after 12, 24, 30 months or whatever), then you don't need to pay that extra $25 a month for the phone anymore; thus, it comes off of your bill.

 

[lordofthereef]

That's not at all what I was saying. If I typed it wrong, I apologize, but when the phone agreement is paid off (after 12, 24, 30 months or whatever), then you don't need to pay that extra $25 a month for the phone anymore; thus, it comes off of your bill.

You weren't paying that anyway. With the contracted plans it was just the price of the plan plus your down payment. Unless you were using Next for some strange reason on your unlimited plan, your monthly rates will not be cheaper

 

[naeS1Sean]

So much fighting going on. #firstworldproblems

 

[erickj]

I'm debating this, but numbers wise, it doesn't come out better for me. Of course this is provided I stay with ATT versus switching networks. I have no interested in going through the hassle of switching networks, so this is me comparing with ATT only.

Right now, I pay about $67.00 mth (taxes/fees included, that's my total bill price w/FAN discount w/5gb data, unlimited text msg. and minutes). If I upgrade every 2 years for $299.00 + $60.00 taxes + $40.00 upgrade fee it works out to about $2007.00 every 2 years.

If I go the NEXT upgrade route (2gb plan-a DOWNGRADE from what I have now), I will pay about $80 monthly ($40 + $30 -$15 plan discount = $55 for plan + $25 for phone) + taxes on the plan $12 mth (estimate) + $72 initial sales tax on phone upfront + $15 added to first bill (not sure what this is for, but they say it's owed). There doesn't appear to be an upgrade or activation fee, but I might be missing that. So total for 2 years on NEXT program = $2305.00.

I'd be paying about $300 more over 2 years with ATT NEXT versus what I have now being able to upgrade with a 2 year contract.

The numbers do not work in my favor, at least in this case.

 

[Kendo]

If you have a single line on an unlimited data plan *and* use a lot of data per month (as I do) then there is no better deal out there that even comes close to the value we get.

However, if you've got a family or you are on a single line and hardly use any data, then the new plans are sometimes better.

In my usage case, which is currently 20-30GB per month even if I have to buy my iPhone outright when I upgrade it will still be the cheaper alternative under the current pricing structures. I invite anyone to show me a plan that includes 30GB's of data and unlimited texts and calls that will go for *less* than $80 total (including tax) per month ($85 in February). If you can find that please show me.

Forget 30GB, even if you only use 6GB of data per month, my $80 unlimited text/data plan is loads cheaper than any other 6GB plan out there.

 

[rdlink]

Every carrier?

They also see what they are paying for the phone instead of it being hidden in the contract. It may not affect a lot of people, but I can see some being turned off by it and possibly going with a cheaper phone. If they see on paper they are paying close to a 1000.00 for a phone (6s plus, mid phone) they may think twice. So I would not say "absolutely untrue" as everyone is different.

Your statement that "they gotta drop close to a grand instead of $200 upfront" is what was absolutely untrue.

Also, your absurd statement that there are phones that are comparable to the iPhone in quality that cost much less. But that's a discussion for another time.

And yes, every carrier. At least every major carrier.

I have no doubt that some will look at the actual cost of owning a phone and decide that they don't need to upgrade so often. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. But reading some of the comments on this thread it's clear that people don't understand how to do straight calculations, and see that they were paying that much for their phones all along. I'm sure that some of these people are the ones who keep places like Aaron Rents and Rent-A-Center in business...