AT&T users on FAN accounts can continue 2 year subsidized plans right?

[BentTable123]

Without the subsidy, I can justify keeping my unlimited line, but not any of the tiered lines. I'm on a family plan with 550 shared minutes and separate data per line. If I port out all the lines except 1, is it possibly to go back to a 450 minute single line for $39.99 keeping my unlimited data?


GoPhone apparently got more data today. $40 per month with 2 GB data and tethering.

 

[ZipZap]

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.

Except that for many, selling the old phone can offset that amount. I take care of my phones and sell for a decent amount.

I was always under the impression that the plans were priced with subsidy in mind. Meaning, no advantage to paying full price except to get a phone off cycle. If the subsidy is lost and plans dont get cheaper then indeed carriers are screwing customers.
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Without the subsidy, I can justify keeping my unlimited line, but not any of the tiered lines. I'm on a family plan with 550 shared minutes and separate data per line. If I port out all the lines except 1, is it possibly to go back to a 450 minute single line for $39.99 keeping my unlimited data?


GoPhone apparently got more data today. $40 per month with 2 GB data and tethering.

Why?

Not following.

You're fine until you need new phones.

 

[lordofthereef]

Except that for many, selling the old phone can offset that amount. I take care of my phones and sell for a decent amount.

I was always under the impression that the plans were priced with subsidy in mind. Meaning, no advantage to paying full price except to get a phone off cycle. If the subsidy is lost and plans dont get cheaper then indeed carriers are screwing customers.

Whether you sell your old phone or not is not really relevent. You are literally paying $450 more for an iPhone every two years with the changes ATT has enacted to their grandfathered UDP plan. That is all I am saying here. If the subsidy was built into plans before, the fact that the plan price remains the same without the subsidy makes it so.

Again, its a semantics game. Fact is, no matter how you look at it, you are now paying more for your phones than you were before.

 

[C DM]

Whether you sell your old phone or not is not really relevent. You are literally paying $450 more for an iPhone every two years with the changes ATT has enacted to their grandfathered UDP plan. That is all I am saying here. If the subsidy was built into plans before, the fact that the plan price remains the same without the subsidy makes it so.

Again, its a semantics game. Fact is, no matter how you look at it, you are now paying more for your phones than you were before.

Correct, they aren't extending discounts to old plans they don't support.

 

[aneftp]

Correct, they aren't extending discounts to old plans they don't support.

Att doesn't want to support older plans (with subsidies) because ATT knows those consumers also realize as well. Those older plans are not as profitable for ATT! It's pretty obvious at this point.

I am not a data hog but my wife and I use around 10-15gb data each.

So Hopefully they data plans get cheaper.

15gb-18gb/$100 plus $15-20/line are what att and Verizon are charging.

It was 10gb/$100. So slowly getting more attractive. But not attractive yet to switch.

 

[imlynxy]

Just tried to add an extra line under my FAN account, 2-year contract no longer available. Let's wait when Att bleed with customers.

 

[C DM]

Just tried to add an extra line under my FAN account, 2-year contract no longer available. Let's wait when Att bleed with customers.

Pretty much all carriers are doing away with contracts. So it's not like it's something unique or surprising.

 

[BentTable123]

Yeah, I will keep the current family plan until our contract is up. When we need a new phone on our 3 GB line, we're going to switch that to gophone since it's cheaper and gets tethering. Will keep the unlimited line open and buy unlocked from apple.

Except that for many, selling the old phone can offset that amount. I take care of my phones and sell for a decent amount.

I was always under the impression that the plans were priced with subsidy in mind. Meaning, no advantage to paying full price except to get a phone off cycle. If the subsidy is lost and plans dont get cheaper then indeed carriers are screwing customers.
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Why?

Not following.

You're fine until you need new phones.

 

[latint81]

I have a grandfather plan with 39.99 450 minutes and I was eligible for an early upgrade and i have a FAN account for some reason they're not honoring the two year contract. But if anyone interested in filing a class law suit please contact me . Thank you.

Pretty sure 99% of customers won't be able to get a subsidized handset after 1-8-16 (even those with a FAN discount).

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."

 

[C DM]

I have a grandfather plan with 39.99 450 minutes and I was eligible for an early upgrade and i have a FAN account for some reason they're not honoring the two year contract. But if anyone interested in filing a class law suit please contact me . Thank you.

Lawsuit? Over what exactly?

 

[cousintim]

GoPhone apparently got more data today. $40 per month with 2 GB data and tethering.

Or Consumer Cellular, which runs on AT&T's network, that offers 250 min/unlimited texts/3GB data w/tethering for $45.

 

[michael31986]

So can fan accounts or no.

 

[Rayfire]

So can fan accounts or no.

No.

 

[Nhwhazup]

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+?

So question for you. You bought your new phone outright with no subsidy. So did your monthly plan rate stay the same or go down?
I'm thinking from what I read, on my FAN unlimited plan I will now pay an extra $5 per month for the increase and then the rate will continue when I now purchase my phones outright. So in essence at the end of the day my cost will be $35-40 more per month than I'm paying right now. Is this correct?

 

[Menel]

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.

You have to switch providers for an mvno. Straighttalk, cricket, or even tmobile if it works for you.

I did this years ago to Aio, now cricket. And so has 12 or 13 other engineers at my office habe followed.

ATT is playing a game imagining customers are dumb and loyal, wont shop around, wont switch from the 'att safety net' or whatever it is people seem to keep stuck in their head. Looking at this thread... They may succeed.

 

[Yardman1977]

Without the subsidy, I can justify keeping my unlimited line, but not any of the tiered lines. I'm on a family plan with 550 shared minutes and separate data per line. If I port out all the lines except 1, is it possibly to go back to a 450 minute single line for $39.99 keeping my unlimited data?



Yes it is possible. We are allowed to switch from one grandfathered plan to another..... I have the same plan with 2 unlimited lines...used to be a 3rd line with 30 megs for 20 bucks but i ported that one out to another mobile share acct i have too........call retentions....tell them you wanna port your tiered line out and switch your unlimited line from your grandfathered 550 family nation plan to the 450 minute nation rollover plan...that is an individual plan for 39.99 per month-minus any fan discount u may have.....make sure u ask her to please give you 10 dollar unlimited messaging instead of the 20 dollar normal price..if you ask then they will do that...tell her money is tight.....and make sure you get a pro retention agent t and not some cement head...cuz they could mess everything up and you will lose your unlimited line.ask her if shes done this kind of thing before......any doubts in your mind about the agent then hang up and call back..if they do mess it up and u lose the unlimited line then dont freak out....just call back asap and they can get it back for you...

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Yes it is possible. We are allowed to switch from one grandfathered plan to another..... I have the same plan with 2 unlimited lines...used to be a 3rd line with 30 megs for 20 bucks but i ported that one out to another mobile share acct i have too........call retentions....tell them you wanna port your tiered line out and switch your unlimited line from your grandfathered 550 family nation plan to the 450 minute nation rollover plan...that is an individual plan for 39.99 per month-minus any fan discount u may have.....make sure u ask her to please give you 10 dollar unlimited messaging instead of the 20 dollar normal price..if you ask then they will do that...tell her money is tight.....and make sure you get a pro retention agent t and not some cement head...cuz they could mess everything up and you will lose your unlimited line.ask her if shes done this kind of thing before......any doubts in your mind about the agent then hang up and call back..if they do mess it up and u lose the unlimited line then dont freak out....just call back asap and they can get it back for you...[/QUOTE]

 

[chasonstone]

I'm not really sure why everyone always does this back and forth about which is better or cheaper. It all depends on what device you get, how much data you use and are willing to pay for, and how any discounts you may receive get applied. The bottom line is that for some people the new plans actually do save them money if you total up the cost of 2 years of service and the phone, and on the flip side there are people who will end up paying more under the new plans. Doing the math when I got my 6 Plus the NEXT route was marginally cheaper when looking at 2 year cost of service and total cost of phone together. I don't think they designed them to save you money, I think they designed them to give the illusion you're saving money and it just so happens in certain combinations of things you do and in some you don't.

But more to the point of the OP, I think if you still can get a subsidy it won't be for much longer either way before they're phased out all together.

 

[ZipZap]

Whether you sell your old phone or not is not really relevent. You are literally paying $450 more for an iPhone every two years with the changes ATT has enacted to their grandfathered UDP plan. That is all I am saying here. If the subsidy was built into plans before, the fact that the plan price remains the same without the subsidy makes it so.

Again, its a semantics game. Fact is, no matter how you look at it, you are now paying more for your phones than you were before.

You're right. But selling the phone is relevant to calculating the true added cost. $450 is the added cost should you not offset it by selling the phone.

 

[solarguy17]

You have to switch providers for an mvno. Straighttalk, cricket, or even tmobile if it works for you.

I did this years ago to Aio, now cricket. And so has 12 or 13 other engineers at my office habe followed.

ATT is playing a game imagining customers are dumb and loyal, wont shop around, wont switch from the 'att safety net' or whatever it is people seem to keep stuck in their head. Looking at this thread... They may succeed.

Yes I could switch. But ATT has the best service and fastest speed in my city. So why would I want to switch? Even with the Des h of 2 year contracts I still plan to stay on my current plan simply because it is cheaper then the equivalent Share plan.
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Okay, but that's not the point. Your argument is "newer plans are more expensive than older plans". Of course they are! The argument is, for new users this deal isn't any worse really. In fact, if you and your friends get together, you can make a killing. Every month my family of 7 splits 50 GB and we each pay about $33.50 a month.

Obviously I don't know you family situation but I have a wife and 3 kids, the 3 kids are all toddlers or younger so no need for them to have cell phones. There is no one in my family to add to. I also don't live in the same area code and my siblings or parents. Plus why would I'm be on my parents plan, I am an adult and don't need coddled from my mommy and daddy.
My point is of course ATT says this better and clearer for customers and that a bold faced lie. It is more confusing becuase of the various plan options and phone costs. Plus it is always more expensive.
So they are liars even if you have a 20 person plan.

 

[lordofthereef]

You're right. But selling the phone is relevant to calculating the true added cost. $450 is the added cost should you not offset it by selling the phone.

The ability to sell your phones was always there. Nothing has changed with that, which is why I haven't considered it in any calculation.
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My point is of course ATT says this better and clearer for customers and that a bold faced lie. It is more confusing becuase of the various plan options and phone costs. Plus it is always more expensive.
So they are liars even if you have a 20 person plan.

This isn't in defense of ATT (I got sick of their BS antics and left, so believe me, if anything, there is bad blood there lol), but the way they are figuring it is better is because you get more minutes and texts for less and are now only billed for data that you use. Whether this is actually the case for most users or not, I couldn't say. When we ditched our unlimited plans for metered plans (four lines)we absolutely did save money. It particularly worked out because only one of our lines was a heavy data line, so while that line used 5-8GB a month, the rest uses 1-2, so the 15GB plan was plenty, and again, for less money.
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I'm not really sure why everyone always does this back and forth about which is better or cheaper. It all depends on what device you get, how much data you use and are willing to pay for, and how any discounts you may receive get applied. The bottom line is that for some people the new plans actually do save them money if you total up the cost of 2 years of service and the phone, and on the flip side there are people who will end up paying more under the new plans. Doing the math when I got my 6 Plus the NEXT route was marginally cheaper when looking at 2 year cost of service and total cost of phone together. I don't think they designed them to save you money, I think they designed them to give the illusion you're saving money and it just so happens in certain combinations of things you do and in some you don't.

But more to the point of the OP, I think if you still can get a subsidy it won't be for much longer either way before they're phased out all together.

The reality is they followed the footsteps of TMO, who designed these plans for people to be able to frequently upgrade, since they realized that is what their consumers want, and in order to continue pulling in the customers they sorely need in order to continue building out their network, TMO is willing to make the sacrifice of razor thin margins. TMO isn't doing it "for the customers" either. The end game is to build out a robust network that couldn't be done without their customers' money coming in each month.

I am a firm believer that most of the plans ATT and Verizon have come out with over the last two years were simply damage control to keep people from jumping over to a network that is offering them more for less (in cities where that network is strong, of course).

 

[michael31986]

So how much would I have to pay to get new iPhone but keep my unlimited data. How much extra monthly?

 

[C DM]

So how much would I have to pay to get new iPhone but keep my unlimited data. How much extra monthly?

Depends on the phone. Basically usually it's the full price of the phone split into 24 monthly payments. Generally on average it can range from let's say around $20 to close to $40 or so.
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So question for you. You bought your new phone outright with no subsidy. So did your monthly plan rate stay the same or go down?
I'm thinking from what I read, on my FAN unlimited plan I will now pay an extra $5 per month for the increase and then the rate will continue when I now purchase my phones outright. So in essence at the end of the day my cost will be $35-40 more per month than I'm paying right now. Is this correct?

Depending on the phone you get, it will be about that much higher as they don't offer discounts for financing or buying the phone outright when it comes to old plans that aren't supported anymore.

 

[HEK]

$140 a month, my FAN discount on that is about $112 month.
Now add 2 phones on on Next fees, $30 a month
so $140 + $30 = $170 month. (note this doesn't include taxes/fees, my before cost does)
Now the actual cost of 2 iPhones every 2 years, $750 x2 = $1500
so $170 x 24 = $4,080 + $1500 = $5,580

$5,580 - $3,960 = $1,620 increase
Even if I drop to the $100 plan, $80+$30 = $110 x 24 = $2,640 +$1500 = $4,140

So please stop saying this is a good change that will make stuff cheaper.

Didn't you forget your fan discount in your most expensive Next pricing.
So $112 + $30 = $142 month
So $142 x 24 = $3,408+ $1,500 = $4,908

With the 15GB $100 plan you got it right, $80 with fan discount.

 

[Yardman1977]

So question for you. You bought your new phone outright with no subsidy. So did your monthly plan rate stay the same or go down?
I'm thinking from what I read, on my FAN unlimited plan I will now pay an extra $5 per month for the increase and then the rate will continue when I now purchase my phones outright. So in essence at the end of the day my cost will be $35-40 more per month than I'm paying right now. Is this correct?

It wont go up as lng as you dont buy a new phone using next program...just use you phone longer...or add insurance to it in february open enrollment...then when it breaks then just put in a claim and pay 199 or 99....enjoy your unlimited...

 

[AustinIllini]

Yes I could switch. But ATT has the best service and fastest speed in my city. So why would I want to switch? Even with the Des h of 2 year contracts I still plan to stay on my current plan simply because it is cheaper then the equivalent Share plan.
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Obviously I don't know you family situation but I have a wife and 3 kids, the 3 kids are all toddlers or younger so no need for them to have cell phones. There is no one in my family to add to. I also don't live in the same area code and my siblings or parents. Plus why would I'm be on my parents plan, I am an adult and don't need coddled from my mommy and daddy.
My point is of course ATT says this better and clearer for customers and that a bold faced lie. It is more confusing becuase of the various plan options and phone costs. Plus it is always more expensive.
So they are liars even if you have a 20 person plan.

AT&T has loosened the family plan rules. First of all, you don't actually have to be related. Secondly, you don't have to live in the same area code or state (my plan has three people in Texas and four in Illinois).

The bold, in particularly is completely false.