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

Idk why people are surprised that carriers start unraveling the subsidy models. They're businesses not charities. They subsidised in the past to entice people to join get smart phones on plans with more data, but now that smartphones and data plans are ubiquitous they don't need to do that anymore. it's time to maximise profit margins.
 
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McGiord said:
So if I just simply keep paying my bill without getting a new phone from AT&T I'll keep paying my monthly rate?
I can buy my iPhone from any other source directly and simply put the SIM in.
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Yes, you can continue to pay your current rate and buy the phone from another source. Just keep in mind that your current rate includes the subsidy you were able to get every year and AT&T won't reduce your bill just because your contract is over and the phone is paid for. Technically, your plan will be increasing, over a two year period, by whatever you pay for a phone that is over the normal subsidy price.

appledefenceforce said:
Idk why people are surprised that carriers start unraveling the subsidy models. They're businesses not charities. They subsidised in the past to entice people to join get smart phones on plans with more data, but now that smartphones and data plans are ubiquitous they don't need to do that anymore. it's time to maximise profit margins.
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Contracts and subsidies existed well before smartphones and data plans. Cell phones have always been expensive and it was a way to lower the upfront entry costs. Even old school Nokias could cost hundreds of dollars off contract, especially for the "higher end" models that were small and had internal antennas.
 
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suerte66 said:
This is what I initially assumed as well, but when I looked at the other plans available, none were actually cheaper than what I am currently paying, and did not include any subsidized phone.
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The other plans on AT&T? Or did you look at MVNO plans?

Jetfire said:
I was paying $102 a month until I got rid of it last month.
Nation 450 with Rollover
$39.99

AT&T Roadside Assistance
$2.99

International Roaming - Standard
$0.00

Data Unlimited for iPhone on 4G LTE with VVM
$30.00

Messaging Unlimited
$20.00

Total Monthly Charges
$92.98


Surcharges & Fees

Administrative Fee
$0.61

Federal Universal Service Charge
$2.27

Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge
$1.20

Total Surcharges & Fees
$4.08


Government Fees & Taxes

County Sales Tax - Telecom
$0.81

OH State Sales Tax - Telecom
$3.68

State/Local Wireless-E911 Costs ($.25/billed number)
$0.25

Total Government Fees & Taxes
$4.74

Total for xxx-xxx-xxxx
$101.80

The price wasn't bad when the phone was subsidized. I got rid of because I was using less than 2GB a month on it. I couldn't turn it into a hot-spot when I was in the field. I could get on Verizon for $90 with 6GB of data and have my iPhone and iPad on it. I still haven't gotten rid of my iPad unlimited plan yet. Lucked out that the Company I work for upgraded their Verizon plan and was able to put both my iPhone and iPad Pro on it.
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90 is still ridiculous. I pay $27/mo for my service through consumer cellular.
 
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stark93 said:
That's the last straw for me… I'm dropping AT&T after my current contract.
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Where are you going to go?

Contracts are a thing of the past.

Small White Car said:
No you don't. Giving it back is a terrible idea. I paid off my NEXT iPhone 6 and sold it on Craigslist for more than AT&T would have given me for it.
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It just sucks that most people don't understand how Next works. Everyone is so afraid of it because it is different. The truth is, it's better in every way.
 
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AutoUnion39 said:
Yup, you are correct my friend. They're trying to sucker in people who don't read the fine print... and it's working.
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This is hardly a secret. At this point in the game monthly payments for your phone is common knowledge. (Relatively) intelligent people know that nobody rides for free. I know you have a deep-seated hatred for T-Mobile, but c'mon, there's nothing shady going on here. Make a downpayment on the phone, pay off the rest monthly.

Talk about the old "subsidy" model if you want shady and deceptive.
 
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ToroidalZeus said:
Did you miss my 1st post?

I pay 260 a month right now. Since i get new 2/3iPhones for free each yr that is a savings of 135 per month. My net cost for 2 lines with unlimited data, 3 with 2GB and 2.5 new iPhones each year is 135 a month. That is $27 per line. (I do have a 25% FAN discount too).

On Shared everything I am looking at 250 a month for 25GB. I can still sell the old phones but that is only a 42 dollar a month savings. So net cost will be $208 a month.

On T-mobile it would be 200 a month, same 42 dollar savings so 158 net cost per month.

So no matter what I do. I am still going to pay more now.
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You have an ancient plan that all the carriers want people off of. And it's basically not available from anyone. T-Mobile does offer unlimited. But there are limits for it and their service, while good is not as deep as AT&T or Verizon. But if that works for you have at it.

Or you could suck it up and do an EDGE plan, pay off the phones and still sell them at a tidy profit. Not to hard to get $300 for a 2 year old iPhone from Swappa or Eaby.
 
Applejuiced said:
Go somewhere cheaper obviously.
It doesn't make sense to be on old family plans with unlimited data plan any more if the price stays the same and you get no 2 year subsidies.
There's many options out there.
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Good luck with that - the only ones with unlimited are T-Mobile and Sprint. And T-Mobile's coverage, while improving, is not as good as AT&T/Verizon. And you'll probably be spending about the same per month as you'll still need to buy a phone and pay for that.
 
ToroidalZeus said:
Like I said. AT&T told me 90% of people are already on NEXT. People see 0 Down and they bite.
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Or they see what a better "deal" it is. I get $20 off my cell bill from AT&T. And if/when I come into money I can pay off my phone and have a cheaper bill. Or pay it off and do an upgrade.

Or I can even pay for the phone right then and there and have a cheaper bill.
 
braindead5400 said:
...and according to their website their largest data plan is 4gb. For some people, that's incredibly insufficient. The 4gb plan is also $40, not including any voice calls, so that's more expensive than whatever plan you have as well.
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I would say better go with unlocked iPhone then go to the att next plan.
 
magicman32 said:
This is hardly a secret. At this point in the game monthly payments for your phone is common knowledge. (Relatively) intelligent people know that nobody rides for free. I know you have a deep-seated hatred for T-Mobile, but c'mon, here's nothing shady going on here. Make a downpayment on the phone, pay off the rest monthly.
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Of course, it's shady... what else do you call it? The device installment plan is just another form of an ETF.

All T-Mobile did was put their marketing spin on it and people start eating that crap right up.

Most of their marketing material doesn't even make it clear that payments are due after you get the phone.

It usually says "0/99/199 etc upfront" in big letters. That's it. It's dishonest and sleazy. Just like Legere.
 
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macintologist said:
You are comparing AT&T to the other large carriers, all of which are rip offs. Compare it to MVNOs and you'll see the huge difference.
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I looked into 4 or 5 of the top-rated MVNOs a few months ago but there were just so many gotchas. They were on a crappy network, or didn't offer unlimited data, or were only 3G, or were 4G but not LTE, or wouldn't allow me to use a new model iPhone, or would allow me to use a new iPhone but some features wouldn't work, or didn't actually save me money once you account for all the data I use, etc etc.

I know there are hundreds of MVNOs but that's just way too many for me to check out; when 100% of the top-rated MVNOs had significant problems like those I listed, I assume the others are even worse.

I've also tried two MVNOs, Red Pocket and NetZero. Red Pocket I could never get to even activate and work...their customer support was nearly non-existent. NetZero I was able to activate, but they had terrible coverage. And even when it looked like I had a good connection, it was a lie--I didn't.

But I am open to being corrected. If you can find me an MVNO that works on a solid network (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile are all fine where I live), has customer support, doesn't have any of those weird gotchas, and saves me money, I'll switch. AT&T's recent price increase to the unlimited plan means that, for a limited time, I can leave my contract without penalty.
 
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itguy06 said:
Good luck with that - the only ones with unlimited are T-Mobile and Sprint. And T-Mobile's coverage, while improving, is not as good as AT&T/Verizon. And you'll probably be spending about the same per month as you'll still need to buy a phone and pay for that.
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Tmobile is fine in my area.
And they're offering unlimited everything for $30 a line. And I wont have to worry about data overages like AT&T's share data plans.
Of Course everywhere you will have to pay for your phone on your own or by monthly payments from now on but getting less for the same is not going to work out for me.
I gotta cut my losses.
 
I just restarted a new 2-year contract when the iPhone 6s came out: Three with contracted (3) iPhones (one unlimited, one $30 3GB plan and 1 $15 200MB) 700 minutes but (with A-List and unlimited M2M) it's pretty much unlimited to us (we bank 300-500 minutes a month) on an old family plan for $177 (after discount).

That was a few dollars cheaper than what the AT&T person on the phone quoted me for a 5GB mobile share plan (but I don't know if that included taxes/etc) with the 2 year next plan (20 month?) for 3 iPhones, but I'd have to give up my unlimited plan. Looks like I'll be forced to do that.

But who knows what the choices will be when another 20 months goes by...
Especially with Apple doing payment options too.

Gary
 
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macintologist said:
I feel sorry for these people since they are way overpaying for their plan.
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I'm getting my revenge. I just bought a new subsidized iPhone 6S a few days ago on the 2 year unlimited plan. And I plan to jump ship with no ETF and an unlocked phone as soon as the $5 price increase shows up in February.

AT&T lost any good will with me a long time ago, and as you said, I've been overpaying for this plan for years. So I don't feel bad!
 
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AutoUnion39 said:
Of course, it's shady... what else do you call it? The device installment plan is just another form of an ETF.

All T-Mobile did was put their marketing spin on it and people start eating that crap right up.

Most of their marketing material doesn't even make it clear that payments are due after you get the phone.

It usually says "0/99/199 etc upfront" in big letters. That's it. It's dishonest and sleazy. Just like Legere.
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Yout hatred clouds your logic.

I really would like to find one person who thinks their phone is free on the spot and they owe nothing over time. I really would.

ETFs used to be 350 and stayed that way for the duration (until they were forced to change). And if you want to leave now, you pay off WHAT YOU OWE on the phone not some artbitrary set fee. It's quite different, but as I said, you have a bias and that isn't going to change. Despite Evil Legere changing the industry for the better (not even debatable but I'm sure you will).

But I know all about you and I know this discussion is pointless. Hence me leaving it, as my head can hit the same brick wall a finite amount of times.

*Edit: Just checked the website, there's no fine print, it couldn't be more clear what UPFRONT due means and clicking the info displays all the details in its full glory.
 
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AutoUnion39 said:
Of course, it's shady... what else do you call it? The device installment plan is just another form of an ETF.

All T-Mobile did was put their marketing spin on it and people start eating that crap right up.

Most of their marketing material doesn't even make it clear that payments are due after you get the phone.

It usually says "0/99/199 etc upfront" in big letters. That's it. It's dishonest and sleazy. Just like Legere.
Click to expand...

I don't think so bud.
T Mobile is upfront and the most honest carrier out there. All these changes and better prices, new plans and new competition is all because of them.
Without that we'd have Verizon and AT&T keep nickel and diming everyone while they tweak their products, plans and prices to maximize their own pockets while offering us less options and worst terms to all customers.
I don't know how you figure they are sleazy and AT&T and verizon is honest and consumer friendly?
They have been ripping us all a new one for all these years before the uncarrier movement started by T Mobile and shook the US wireless industry with all these changes.

Some more info to those on AT&T on unlimited data plan. I was looking over the email I got from AT&T a few days ago telling me about my unlimited data plan increase. Upcoming changes to your unlimited data plan:

If you choose to cancel your unlimited data plan and you're under a two-year service contract, we'll waive your early termination fee.4 Just cancel your unlimited data plan line(s) within 60 days after the price increase first appears on your bill. Cancellations made after that time will be subject to the usual early termination fee.
 
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H2SO4 said:
Personally I don’t see the difference. A two year contract is the same as an AT&T pricing plan if of a different length. This is just to confuse customers.
Whether I’m roped in for two years by the carriers, the banks or my next door neighbour - it’s the same. The only difference is that the ones that seemingly have more flexibilty are the ones that snare you for longer.
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I know when I waited 2 years and 3 months to upgrade to my iPhone 6, the last 3 months my phone bill was about $15 lower per phone because I was "out of contract"...and once I got a new phone, it went back up.

so this SHOULD lower your monthly bill, because the subsidy rate isn't being rolled back in...SHOULD....but we all know AT&T and how they SHAFT you...It probably will remain the same.. GUESS WHAT AT&T, THAT MIGHT MAKE ME SWITCH.
 
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