I saw a couple of faq's about AT&Ts new agenda and it says that people on FAN accounts can continue 2 year agreements, but does this mean we can continue to get subsidized phones as a part of the deal?
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AT&T users on FAN accounts can continue 2 year subsidized plans right?
- Thread starter wesk702
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maybe.
some customers may depending on their company's agreement.
I wouldn't get your hopes up and even if you are one of the lucky ones, it's only a matter of time till it expires for you too.
some customers may depending on their company's agreement.
I wouldn't get your hopes up and even if you are one of the lucky ones, it's only a matter of time till it expires for you too.
Pretty sure 99% of customers won't be able to get a subsidized handset after 1-8-16 (even those with a FAN discount).
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https://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/popups/general/cru-iru-important-information.jsp
"Corporate Responsibility Users, or CRUs, are employees who receive service under a corporate account for which their company has financial responsibility.
Companies with a qualified business agreement may also take advantage of the Sponsorship Program, which enables their employees to subscribe to service as Individual Responsibility Users, or IRUs. IRUs must have an individual 2-year service agreement and an eligible plan-this means the employee receives service under an individual account for which the employee him/herself has financial responsibility."
https://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/popups/general/cru-iru-important-information.jsp
"Corporate Responsibility Users, or CRUs, are employees who receive service under a corporate account for which their company has financial responsibility.
Companies with a qualified business agreement may also take advantage of the Sponsorship Program, which enables their employees to subscribe to service as Individual Responsibility Users, or IRUs. IRUs must have an individual 2-year service agreement and an eligible plan-this means the employee receives service under an individual account for which the employee him/herself has financial responsibility."
I have no intention of leaving AT&T any time soon so I called up just now and used my upgrade to get a free iPhone 5s that I'll likely gift or sell to a coworker.
The phones were never discounted. You paid a for them in your bill. Now, there is simply increased transparency.Looks like the day of discounted phones are OVER
In fact, this setup is really great if you're willing to buy a midrange device.
Technically you are right. But reality is that you are wrong.
If having and subsidized phone is why bill is $135 a month (2 phones) then shouldn't a similar plan be $95? Instead a similar plan to what I have is $130.
So my bill is $5 a months over 24 months, that's $120 savings. Where as 2 phones subsidizes about $700 of the cost.
The best not reason ATT is doing this is to increase their bottom line.
It's really quite simple.
One bill is finite. The other is indefinite.
Better yet, buy a $300 phone. No comparison.
Actually, that is a valid comparison if one doesn't want a $300 phone with a low capped data plan. Under contract, I was able to get a top of the line smartphone at a $450 discount with unlimited data for $80 per month.
Can you tell me which NEXT alternative can give an equal or better value? I use 20-25GB of data per month.
No you weren't. You paid, in the contract, for any "subsidy" you received.
Also, if you use 20-25 GB per month, you're abusing an old system. That's a completely different discussion.
The fact is, you got unlimited data and abused it and that's the reason they are gone. The fact is, going from an equivalent contract to an equivalent, you're no worse off. Add to that, if you bring along some of your friends, you can do really well. I have 7 lines for my family and pay $33.40 a person and we have 45 GB of data every month.
First of all, I haven't "abused" a plan that AT&T chooses to sell to me and which I adhere to the terms of our agreement. That's like saying you are served a steak at a restaurant, paid for all of it, and unless you leave half of it uneaten you are abusing the restaurant. This argument has never made sense. AT&T stopped selling unlimited because they realized they could get far more revenue by selling tiered data.
Yes, the subsidy is built into my plan--I get that. I think what you fail to perceive is that the total cost of my plan, when considering how much data I use on unlimited and the price I pay is far less than an equivalent NEXT plan that includes the same amount of data--and *doesn't* have the subsidy.
Even though the total cost of my plan is about 40% less you are so fixated on the built in subsidy you can't separate that from the raw numbers. Again, my plan which includes the subsidy is *still* far cheaper than any NEXT plan that does NOT include the subsidy.
But the Old Plan - Subsidy < (cheaper) New Plan. So your point is moot. Yes we got more transparency but the actual costs went up too.
I use about 5-7 GB of data a month. My brother uses about 10-12 GB of data a month. That doesn't even quality as abusive under your description. Anyways we would need the 25GB plan for my family. We get 5 new iPhones every 2 years. So our total cost by switching over would be, after FAN discount, $342 a month. We pay, with FAN discount, 250 a month right now. So about 90 dollars more per month for the exact same service we have right now.
You seem to lack fact.
Have to not agree. My bill would remain the same when I did a two year contract and paid $200 for a new iPhone. In two years when it was done my bill was still the same. In fact my bill have not change greatly for years now. In the end it would save me $400-$500 for a phone while my monthly bill never changed.
I buy my phones outright from Apple now so I am not under any contract.
It is how it worked the last two time I bought my phone from AT&T and it IS fine!
Not a bad idea though there might have been even more money in a 6S despite having to pay some upfront.
Those who are certain they want to stay with AT&T, may even want to upgrade the "partial discount," lines before the cutoff date.
You're comparing apples to oranges. A grandfathered plan with the "baked in" subsidy fee is still cheaper than a comparable plan today. The discounted phone is just the sweetest icing on a cake ever.
For example, suppose I'm grandfathered into a movie theater plan where 10 years ago I paid $5 for movie tickets and I got a $20 bonus certificate for snacks and drinks for signing up for 2 years.
Fast forward to today and now they are getting rid of the $20 bonus certificate but I still pay $5 for a movie ticket because I'm grandfathered in. That $5 ticket is still better than whatever it costs to buy movie tickets today ($12).
A $40 voice plus $30 unlimited data plan plus $10 unlimited text at $80 (with the hidden subsidy) is still better than a $100 3GB plan today.
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The bold is the source of this discord in this thread. The reality is now nothing changes unless you are grandfathered into archaic plans.
Speaking of archaic plans, don't be surprised when AT&T continues to jack up the unlimited data price.
Yes, it might be cheaper, but make no mistake, it will not last.
Looks like the day of discounted phones are OVER
Not sure what you all are doing differently, but I'm saving about $30 per month now that I've switched to NEXT. (On a plan with 4 lines.)
I am, of course, including the $996 I had to pay for phones every two years under the old plan. That adds on $41.50 per month, math-wise. Are you, perhaps, forgetting that part of the subsidized phone plans?
"A comic book use to cost a nickle back in my day ..."
Of course those old unlimited data plans are cheaper than today's plans.
Of course those old unlimited data plans are cheaper than today's plans.
I'm guessing no on FAN accounts continuing the 2 year subsidized phones. I have a FAN account and just went to get someone a phone and I still had 2 choices of doing NEXT or paying full price. I just paid the 750 for the iPhone.
Also, for you guys saying that you paid less with the old plans...........I don't know a ton about cell phone plans, but I paid full price for the iPhone up front and my plan dropped 38/month. I changed nothing else on my plan. Like AustinIllini was saying, they didn't just give you a phone for 200 and then ate the rest of the cost, a lot of it was passed to the consumer.
I can definitely understand how if you were used to upgrading your phone every year and only paying 200-300 each time up front this could be inconvenient. I do wonder now whether the prices for used iPhones will go back up? This won't change my upgrade plans, but I wonder if now around launch date when the prior gen phones are going for about 300-500 if they now go up from 500+?
Also, for you guys saying that you paid less with the old plans...........I don't know a ton about cell phone plans, but I paid full price for the iPhone up front and my plan dropped 38/month. I changed nothing else on my plan. Like AustinIllini was saying, they didn't just give you a phone for 200 and then ate the rest of the cost, a lot of it was passed to the consumer.
I can definitely understand how if you were used to upgrading your phone every year and only paying 200-300 each time up front this could be inconvenient. I do wonder now whether the prices for used iPhones will go back up? This won't change my upgrade plans, but I wonder if now around launch date when the prior gen phones are going for about 300-500 if they now go up from 500+?
The current Mobile sharing plans offered by ATT are rigged (on purpose) to make paying full price for phones seem "cheaper" than putting them on a 2 year contract plan (aka paying $25/month more per line if u had opted for 2 year $199/iPhone contract)
Pure marketing genius.
For use on grandfathered plans (tiered voice 700/1400 minute plans). We can mix and match data plan or no data plan. Smartphone or no smartphones. And that flexibility can afford us to pay much less than the current plans offered by att. Especially with the built in subsidy which is going away n
Pure marketing genius.
For use on grandfathered plans (tiered voice 700/1400 minute plans). We can mix and match data plan or no data plan. Smartphone or no smartphones. And that flexibility can afford us to pay much less than the current plans offered by att. Especially with the built in subsidy which is going away n
One thing that is different is that I am on a single line. If you've got multiple lines as you do then NEXT start to get cheaper the more you add. The second is that I'm on an unlimited data plan *and* use about 25GB per month. If I moved from my $80 per month plan that includes unlimited data, minutes and texts I would pay considerably more on NEXT *even though* the subsidy is built in to my plan. I haven't found a NEXT plan for a single line, that includes at least 25GBs of data for $80 or less yet. Currently, an equivalent plan is about $190 per month plus tax--that's a lot more than $80.
Oh hell, this "there were never subsidies" argument again...
The reality is you will continue to pay what you paid before "with built in subsidy", but you will not receive that subsidy going forward.
This is a semantics game, but if you get a new PREMIUM phone every two years, you will be paying $450 more for that phone now.
The reality is you will continue to pay what you paid before "with built in subsidy", but you will not receive that subsidy going forward.
This is a semantics game, but if you get a new PREMIUM phone every two years, you will be paying $450 more for that phone now.
That all makes sense.
Not sure why AT&T makes NEXT a good deal for some and a bad deal for others, though.