AT&T & upgrade or downgrade of service

[thouts]

Hey all.

I'm currently with alltel and my contract is up in August. After the new iPhone comes out in June/July (hopefully) August seems like a good time to get an iPhone.

I was looking at the AT&T rate plans & such. I think I decided i'd go with the 900 minute plan for $89.99/mo. and then add a texting plan for $15/mo bringing me to about $105/mo. What I was wondering was, if I decided a couple months into my contract that I don't need 1500 texts, can I downgrade my contract to the $5/mo text plan - or vice versa - if I decided to go with $5/mo first and then upgrade? Same question with the minutes also...basically wanted to know if you can change your contract within the 2 year agreement or if you're stuck after signing?

Also wondering about the little extras phone company's charge - taxes & fees - what do these usually run per month for people?

Thanks for helping me plan for this people.

 

[lindsayanng]

yes,,.you can add, remove, upgrade, or downgrade "extras" at any time. We do this all the time with our business plan. When we add a new line, we arent really sure how many texts its going to use and all that.. so we move it around until we find the right plan.

NOW, you forgot to add the $30/month for the iphone data to your cost

basically your contract is JUST to hold you with the carrier.. you can do what you want with your service. I think they have a limit on downgrades though.. So you dont move it TOO much

I just so happen to have my ATT bill sitting right in front of me

$20.06 government fees and taxes every month on 5 phones. Its about $4/phone those are
911 usage fee ..... 00.28
State sale tax ..... 2.23
regulatory cost recovery charge .....1.25
federal universal service charge .... 00.44

 

[joekun]

NOW, you forgot to add the $30/month for the iphone data to your cost

The $89.99 plan includes the data plan's cost.

Also taxes will vary depending on where you are. I think I pay around $13-15 for 2 phones.

 

[lindsayanng]

ohh.. i didnt know they had a plan that included it..

The federal taxes will be the same no matter where you are.. but teh state obviously can change..

 

[thouts]

got a little scared about the extra 30/mo for data plan...thought that was covered...thanks for clearing that up

 

[apeacock]

You can always move around extras (text messaging and such), and you can also move up and down in the minutes plan - the only issue I've seen with minutes is when you downgrade they get rid of your rollover minutes (so you can't go on 1500 minutes one month to get a bunch of RO, then downgrade to keep that buffer). I've never had an issue doing either.