Based on their website, $25 gets you 250 minutes, 3000 texts, and 500mb of data.
An unlimited talk/text + 4gb of data plan is $90.
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AT&T to Stop Offering Two-Year Phone Contracts Starting January 8
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An unlimited talk/text + 4gb of data plan is $90.
Yep, there is a narrow window of golden opportunity right now for someone on the unlimited plan, dissatisfied with AT&T and looking to switch, with a phone upgrade available.
I was wondering about that, if I cancel, I can walk away with my iPhone free & clear?
(I renewed my plan and got a 6s three months ago).
My unlimited iPhone is the main line on the plan, does that get the other two non-unlimited 6s phones off the hook too?
Gary
That's incorrect. The ETF decreased every month of completed service. I think it is $325 - $10/month.
It's been like this for years... even before T-Mobile became relevant again.
Let's say I got a 16gb iPhone 6S and canceled before a month.
On AT&T, that would've been $199 up front + month service cost (whatever plan you picked out) + $325 ETF + taxes, etc.
On T-Mobile, that would've been 0 upfront + month service cost (whatever plan you picked out) + $649 EIP payoff.
No matter how you slice it, the T-Mobile "way" would cost more.
Nothing is clouding my judgment. I'm willing to see through the marketing BS, unlike some people...
My understanding is yes... (I asked the same question and someone who seemed to know what they were talking about answered).
They've bit the bullet on those subsidized phones on day 1, and just make up their money over the course of the 2 year contract. So unless you've made some agreement that you pay for the phone in monthly installments, you should own it free and clear.
I'll be asking them to unlock mine the day I get the February bill.
How is that? They masked a significant unlimited plan increase (much more than AT&T's recent $5 hike) with the additional BingeOn service. That is sleazy.
Over the last 2 or so years (since the start of UnCarrier), they have increased the cost of their unlimited plan repeatedly, yet no one has said a damn thing.
but AT&T (and Verizon) do it ONCE and everyone freaks out? Are you kidding me?
Your access fee will be $25 if you buy a phone on Next and have a 5GB plan, not $40. Also, if you finance the phone with Next, there is no down payment, whereas upgrading a phone on contract costs several hundred dollars upfront (depending on the model). You also get the hotspot feature, are free to leave whenever you want without penalty, and can keep your existing phone as long as you want without continuing to pay for the baked-in subsidy. It may also be worthwhile to look at the total cost of the plan for your entire family.
I'm not overpaying for mine. You're assuming everyone on unlimited doesn't use a high amount of data with that statement.
I wondered the same thing... and I was told no. It's only the line with unlimited. They will not let the other non-unlimited plan lines out of contract for free.
Well the next Apple iPhone rollout will be interesting -- you know where they show the price of all the phones at their subsidized costs. Now they'll have to say it "only" costs $649, $749 or $849 for the regular model and $749, $849, or $949 for the plus model.
Hopefully as people see the true costs of phones, some price competition will kick in.
Hopefully as people see the true costs of phones, some price competition will kick in.
Well, it's not really fair to compare your $25 plan to his $90 plan when he has (almost) double the minutes (with rollover) and with the unlimited messaging I bet he has unlimited (M2M) mobile to mobile too, plus unlimited data. His (old) plan sounds better than the $90 plan with consumer cellular.
The data is the killer for many plans. I know they call the iPhone a phone but for me it's a mini-tablet that I use for a million things (phone calls and texting is secondary).
Gary
yeah apple's is a little more a month than the old AT&T plans were including subsidy BUT you get a new phone every year. My wife doesn't get this and won't say yes...she will once she sees that AT&T won't do the 2 year contract anymore
Here's what really irritates me with AT&T Next: upgrading your device in a partner retail store. Outside of Apple Stores and the AT&T store itself, good luck finding a store that offers phones for customers who want to upgrade with an existing Next plan. I had this issue when trying to upgrade from the 6 to the 6s a couple months ago. My local Target, Sams Club, Walmart all had the 6s in stock but none of them allow existing Next customers to purchase a phone. AT&T needs to force their partners to update their systems to support these upgrades.
I think they'll start advertising it as a monthly (or yearly price) or they'll start up Apple Cellular and make it one big package...
Maybe with Apple Radio, iTunes Match and iTunes streaming included and data doesn't count against your plan
Gary
Yes, you'd be fine on the unlimited line Gary.
Those other 2 lines that are not on unlimited data plan will still be subject to the early termination fee.
Contact AT&T for more details on how much the remaining ETF would be etc..
They will likely just advertise them as "Starting at $30 a month" or something like that.
Good. I'll do the same and switch to T-Mobile!
Do I go straight to T-Mobile and switch at the store there? Or go to an AT&T store first and cancel my contract? I don't want to lose my current phone number.
The BingeOn service is great. Not sleazy, you can turn it off any time you want. You turn it on and stream all these video services and audio for free and they don't count a single KB out of your data plan. How can you go wrong with that? Its an option, options is what we didn't have for years with the 2 big carriers.
I don't know Man, I think AT&T is more sleazy and the oscar for most sleaziness got to Verizon
lol
I'm the only one in the family with a smartphone, and I'm the only one that texts. NEXT is a waste of money for my mother, father, and sister. They'd be paying for services they don't even use. NEXT is a waste of money for me too, considering I'm paying $30/month for 3GB and $5/month for 200 texts. I don't NEED what NEXT offers, that is the point. AT&T is forcing my hand, and they will lose business, at least my business as a result.
The people this change hurts the most are people who don't use smartphones. I don't even see plans for basic phones on AT&Ts website. We will probably need to look elsewhere for my families needs.
Good question and I've been thinking about it too. I think the sequence will be:
- get February bill
- call AT&T and inform them that you want out of your contract, referencing no-ETF offer
- ask AT&T to unlock your device (maybe it can be done all in the same phone call)
- set up service with TMobile and ask the them to port the number
If you have Tmobile ship you a sim card, obviously there is some time lost there... don't know how that works if your service with AT&T has ended. I'm hoping I can stop by a Tmobile store and get a sim card from them immediately. Can you tell I haven't switched phone companies for an unhealthy period of time?
ETA: I still have my old iPhone 5s, which is unlocked. What I *might* do is set up service with Tmobile right as I'm cancelling with AT&T. If there's a bit of a delay (like getting things sorted with AT&T before they'll agree to unlock my 6s), I can just have the Tmobile service going with my old 5s. Then when everyone's done with AT&T and the 6s is properly unlocked, I'll pop the Tmobile sim in there. But I guess if I did it this way, I'd lose my phone number, so maybe not. If I had to be without cell service for a couple days, I could manage.
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so here competition is showing AT&T that they can get more money with other customer relationship gimmicks
I'm considering this because the full price of a new iPhone is astronomically out of my reach. Sure, I could sacrifice an entire paycheque or two to it, but then I'd still be locked into an expensive plan for the next two years on top of that. Do I get a lot of good use out of my current iPhone 4? Yes. Do I want to spend $700 + $100 x 24 for my next iPhone? No.
IF I decide to stick with AT&T that means I will no longer pay "upgrade" fees. I can front the money to buy the phone outright directly from Apple and then just put my SIM card in my new phone. That means I will at least save $40+ on every new phone!
Someone please correct me if I am wrong?
Someone please correct me if I am wrong?