Can someone explain the $15 and $40 "discounts" for Mobile Share

[Vertigo50]

I'm considering the Mobile Share plans on AT&T, and I'm pretty sure they won't actually save me money. But I'm still confused about those who switched to it and saved money, then found out they lost their bill went up when they upgraded phones, losing a $15 or $40 "discount" in the process.

Can someone run this down for me, because I still don't really understand how this works, and I don't want to switch and then get hit with this hidden crap when I upgrade.

 

[Hal~9000]

They aren't really 'discounts' and shouldn't be thought of that way.

Basically if you are on the $100 or up data plan for mobile sharing AND you have a phone that is already paid off (or go through ATT NEXT) your smartphone access charge is $15, instead of $40.

If you have got a subsidized phone with a 2-year contract then your smartphone access charge is $40/mo.

Also know that if you go through ATT NEXT thinking it will save you $25/mo in smartphone access charges it wont... since you will be paying around $27/mo and up for the iPhone 6 via NEXT.

 

[linkgx1]

Basically, when you are on a two year contract, you are paying $40 per line. But if you switch to ATT Next, you pay $15 per line.

Now here is how some people's bill goes up. Let's say you have been paying $40 per line under a two year contract but your contract ended in September. Right now you'd pay $15 per line automatically. BUT, if you decided to upgrade via ATT NEXT with a new phone, it'd stay $15 per line but your bill would go up because you're now paying the pones full cost monthly (around $35 or so).

 

[slookx24]

Right. You get a "discount" on monthly services, but you are paying "extra" per month toward the full price of the phone. Basically, instead of a contract on the wireless service, you are instead on a contract for the phone.

 

[Vertigo50]

Okay, so let me see if I'm clear on this. Basically, the $40 is the subsidized price of the phone monthly.

If I DON'T do NEXT, but just stay on a 2-year agreement and buy a new phone, I'm paying $40 a month until that phone is "paid off", and then it goes down to $15 per phone per month?

So if I had two phones, one of which was paid off and one was just upgraded, I'd be paying $15 for the paid off phone and $40 for the new one, correct?

 

[Ghostbuster386]

Okay, so let me see if I'm clear on this. Basically, the $40 is the subsidized price of the phone monthly.

If I DON'T do NEXT, but just stay on a 2-year agreement and buy a new phone, I'm paying $40 a month until that phone is "paid off", and then it goes down to $15 per phone per month?

So if I had two phones, one of which was paid off and one was just upgraded, I'd be paying $15 for the paid off phone and $40 for the new one, correct?

Your 100% correct. If your on the mobile share value plan it is cheaper in the long run to do NEXT but your monthly bill might end up higher until you pay the phone off.

 

[Hal~9000]

Okay, so let me see if I'm clear on this. Basically, the $40 is the subsidized price of the phone monthly.

Correct.

If I DON'T do NEXT, but just stay on a 2-year agreement and buy a new phone, I'm paying $40 a month until that phone is "paid off", and then it goes down to $15 per phone per month?

Correct.

So if I had two phones, one of which was paid off and one was just upgraded, I'd be paying $15 for the paid off phone and $40 for the new one, correct?

Correct.

 

[jhearty99]

However, you will still only pay the $15 per month if you have a current 2 year agreement signed before 2/2/14.

This is copy and pasted from AT&T:

Discount: discounted access charge of $15/$25 month is avail. for smartphones purchased on AT&T Next, at full price, or when you bring your own. Discounted access charge also applies to customers w/smartphones on 2-yr agmts prior to 2/2/14. Upgrade: if upgrading to a new phone discount is only avail. via AT&T Next, if you bring your own phone or pay full price. If you upgrade with a new 2-yr agmt the access charge will be $40/mo.

 

[Starfyre]

It is all a marketing gimmick to lure the consumer.

 

[linkgx1]

Okay, so let me see if I'm clear on this. Basically, the $40 is the subsidized price of the phone monthly.

If I DON'T do NEXT, but just stay on a 2-year agreement and buy a new phone, I'm paying $40 a month until that phone is "paid off", and then it goes down to $15 per phone per month?

So if I had two phones, one of which was paid off and one was just upgraded, I'd be paying $15 for the paid off phone and $40 for the new one, correct?

Yeah, $15 for paid off one. You would probably just see the biggest difference once the phone is paid off. This is basically a plan that is more transparent that the old model.

 

[-Ray-]

I'm considering the Mobile Share plans on AT&T, and I'm pretty sure they won't actually save me money. But I'm still confused about those who switched to it and saved money, then found out they lost their bill went up when they upgraded phones, losing a $15 or $40 "discount" in the process.

Can someone run this down for me, because I still don't really understand how this works, and I don't want to switch and then get hit with this hidden crap when I upgrade.

The money savings comes after the second year. If your in a two year contract its 40 x 24 for 960 access fee plus sub price of phone. Next you pay device in payment. Save about 2-300 with next

 

[Steve686]

Basically, when you are on a two year contract, you are paying $40 per line. But if you switch to ATT Next, you pay $15 per line.

Now here is how some people's bill goes up. Let's say you have been paying $40 per line under a two year contract but your contract ended in September. Right now you'd pay $15 per line automatically. BUT, if you decided to upgrade via ATT NEXT with a new phone, it'd stay $15 per line but your bill would go up because you're now paying the pones full cost monthly (around $35 or so).

You are forgetting to take into account that with a 2-year contract you have already paid a chunk of cash to ATT to receive the phone.. $200-$500 + tax?

So split this cost over 24 months and it all comes out in the range.

 

[linkgx1]

You are forgetting to take into account that with a 2-year contract you have already paid a chunk of cash to ATT to receive the phone.. $200-$500 + tax?

So split this cost over 24 months and it all comes out in the range.

Oh yeah, forgot about that.

 

[Vertigo50]

Okay, so say I am on a plan with my wife, and both of us have an iPhone, and I don't want to do NEXT. Mine is a new 6, and hers is a 5s that is halfway through its contract.

I'm assuming we would pay $40 a month for each, so that's $80.

Now, if we wanted 4GB of data shared between us, that's $70. (Okay, maybe it's doubled to 8GB because of the promotion.

So $70+40+40=$150? Am I missing something?

We currently pay $115, with me on unlimited and my wife on 2GB. How does anyone save money on this plan? Or does everyone just think they do because of the "discounts"?

 

[hasanahmad]

Okay, so say I am on a plan with my wife, and both of us have an iPhone, and I don't want to do NEXT. Mine is a new 6, and hers is a 5s that is halfway through its contract.

I'm assuming we would pay $40 a month for each, so that's $80.

Now, if we wanted 4GB of data shared between us, that's $70. (Okay, maybe it's doubled to 8GB because of the promotion.

So $70+40+40=$150? Am I missing something?

We currently pay $115, with me on unlimited and my wife on 2GB. How does anyone save money on this plan? Or does everyone just think they do because of the "discounts"?


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Yes it will be 150 with a 2 year contract for each phone with 4 GB shared data

 

[slookx24]

Okay, so say I am on a plan with my wife, and both of us have an iPhone, and I don't want to do NEXT. Mine is a new 6, and hers is a 5s that is halfway through its contract.

I'm assuming we would pay $40 a month for each, so that's $80.

Now, if we wanted 4GB of data shared between us, that's $70. (Okay, maybe it's doubled to 8GB because of the promotion.

So $70+40+40=$150? Am I missing something?

We currently pay $115, with me on unlimited and my wife on 2GB. How does anyone save money on this plan? Or does everyone just think they do because of the "discounts"?


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In that situation, you wouldn't save money. So AT&T embellishes that by trying to sell you onto the NEXT plan to go hand-in-hand with a mobile share plan by saying you will then have the opportunity to upgrade your device after 1 year instead of 2 years (like you would under a contract). They say it gives you more "freedom," but (a lot of times) at a higher cost.

 

[FtrV8]

Okay, so say I am on a plan with my wife, and both of us have an iPhone, and I don't want to do NEXT. Mine is a new 6, and hers is a 5s that is halfway through its contract.

I'm assuming we would pay $40 a month for each, so that's $80.

Now, if we wanted 4GB of data shared between us, that's $70. (Okay, maybe it's doubled to 8GB because of the promotion.

So $70+40+40=$150? Am I missing something?

We currently pay $115, with me on unlimited and my wife on 2GB. How does anyone save money on this plan? Or does everyone just think they do because of the "discounts"?


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Same boat as you. I don't see the savings. Actually it goes up for me by $20 for comparable usage.

 

[Hal~9000]

How does anyone save money on this plan?

You somehow sound surprised that AT&T would limit people's options and force them to pay more

Individuals and 2-person couples don't really save at all on the new plans.

Family share plans are basically a cash grab by AT&T by increasing costs and forcing people to pay for unlimited talk & text. The only people who would pay less than they were are large families that were already paying a large amount each month to AT&T for unlimited talk & text on the old plans.

Before people would get corporate FAN discounts on the voice, text, and data portion of your AT&T plan... now they only get a discount on the shared data portion.

Before you would get a subsidized upgrade worth $450... now if you subsidize you pay $25/mo more for 2-years ($600).

 

[packgolfdude]

Okay, so say I am on a plan with my wife, and both of us have an iPhone, and I don't want to do NEXT. Mine is a new 6, and hers is a 5s that is halfway through its contract.

I'm assuming we would pay $40 a month for each, so that's $80.

Now, if we wanted 4GB of data shared between us, that's $70. (Okay, maybe it's doubled to 8GB because of the promotion.

So $70+40+40=$150? Am I missing something?

We currently pay $115, with me on unlimited and my wife on 2GB. How does anyone save money on this plan? Or does everyone just think they do because of the "discounts"?


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Does the $115 include a company discount? Does that include unlimited text for both? Seems like a good deal you have there, I wouldn't change it either. I was paying $134 for one iphone, unlimited text/data, and 2 iPads. That was with a 23% discount. Coverted to 4GB family and now bill is $92/month which has 23% discount. If I add another iPhone to it via next, it's only $25.

 

[Vertigo50]

Does the $115 include a company discount? Does that include unlimited text for both? Seems like a good deal you have there, I wouldn't change it either. I was paying $134 for one iphone, unlimited text/data, and 2 iPads. That was with a 23% discount. Coverted to 4GB family and now bill is $92/month which has 23% discount. If I add another iPhone to it via next, it's only $25.

Thanks for the answers everyone, this has been very helpful.

And yes, ours includes a FAN discount, but it would still only be like $130 at most without it.

Also, we only get something 450 minutes and we don't have texting on the plan at all, because we do iMessage and other options. We have thousands of rollover minutes, though, so unlimited minutes is pointless. Texting would be nice, but not worth much to us at this point.

I realize that we are a little outside the norm, but I still can't believe how crappy of a deal the Mobile Share plans would be for us. I'm glad that at least some people are saving money with them. I sort of felt like I must not have been understanding it correctly, as it was SO much more expensive than we are paying. Now I know I was sadly correct.

 

[packgolfdude]

Thanks for the answers everyone, this has been very helpful.

And yes, ours includes a FAN discount, but it would still only be like $130 at most without it.

Also, we only get something 450 minutes and we don't have texting on the plan at all, because we do iMessage and other options. We have thousands of rollover minutes, though, so unlimited minutes is pointless. Texting would be nice, but not worth much to us at this point.

I realize that we are a little outside the norm, but I still can't believe how crappy of a deal the Mobile Share plans would be for us. I'm glad that at least some people are saving money with them. I sort of felt like I must not have been understanding it correctly, as it was SO much more expensive than we are paying. Now I know I was sadly correct.

That makes more sense, if you were to use messaging and tethering then switching to MSV would save you as that is unlimited with the MSV plan. But since your not paying for messaging then it not a good comparison. It would then look more attractive to replace both your phones with Next as you would save $30/month off your bill.

For everyone else, if you login to your ATT account you can simulate plan changes to compare.

 

[dehoff]

You somehow sound surprised that AT&T would limit people's options and force them to pay more

Individuals and 2-person couples don't really save at all on the new plans.

Family share plans are basically a cash grab by AT&T by increasing costs and forcing people to pay for unlimited talk & text. The only people who would pay less than they were are large families that were already paying a large amount each month to AT&T for unlimited talk & text on the old plans.

Before people would get corporate FAN discounts on the voice, text, and data portion of your AT&T plan... now they only get a discount on the shared data portion.

Before you would get a subsidized upgrade worth $450... now if you subsidize you pay $25/mo more for 2-years ($600).

My wife's corporate discount on our previous plan only applied to the voice portion of our plan, text and data didn't receive any discount.



You also have to pay the $40 upgrade fee if you're not using NEXT, so using a 2 year contract for the "upgrade" is actually costing a person an additional $190 over NEXT with a family share plan ($640 additional cost over 2 years vs. $450 credit). Beyond that, they're also basically giving you 20 or 24 month interest free financing.

 

[Vertigo50]

My wife's corporate discount on our previous plan only applied to the voice portion of our plan, text and data didn't receive any discount.



You also have to pay the $40 upgrade fee if you're not using NEXT, so using a 2 year contract for the "upgrade" is actually costing a person an additional $190 over NEXT with a family share plan ($640 additional cost over 2 years vs. $450 credit). Beyond that, they're also basically giving you 20 or 24 month interest free financing.

I don't pay the $40 upgrade fees. Every time we upgrade, I get on the chat, remind them that I have been a customer for 7 years and never late on a single payment. AND I just signed up to pay them thousands over the next two years, so they can kindly waive the upgrade fee. I haven't paid an activation or upgrade fee since we first started our account.

Also, I think you have your numbers switched here. The $450 credit is for the 2-year, and $640 is what you're now paying with NEXT. Right?

 

[dehoff]

I don't pay the $40 upgrade fees. Every time we upgrade, I get on the chat, remind them that I have been a customer for 7 years and never late on a single payment. AND I just signed up to pay them thousands over the next two years, so they can kindly waive the upgrade fee. I haven't paid an activation or upgrade fee since we first started our account.





Also, I think you have your numbers switched here. The $450 credit is for the 2-year, and $640 is what you're now paying with NEXT. Right?

No, it's a $450 credit for paying out $640 ( or $600 in your case) additional for a 2 year contract.



I'll try to explain as I had to run the numbers myself to verify that NEXT was a better deal for my situation ( both my wife and I upgrading to iPhone 6 and 6 plus, respectively).



I ordered a 64g SG 6 plus that will hopefully get shipped before Thanksgiving. Pricing for that phone:



2 yr contract price= $400 (subsidized price) + $600($25/mo. X 24 month additional line charge over NEXT or phone out of contract) =$1,000 or $1,040 if you're not a good negotiator and pay the upgrade charge.



18 month NEXT price= $35.42/month X 24 months =$850.08 ( don't know if they'll actually make me pay the additional $0.08 or if it's a rounding error.)

 

[rui no onna]

We currently pay $115, with me on unlimited and my wife on 2GB. How does anyone save money on this plan? Or does everyone just think they do because of the "discounts"?

We're on a 4 line family share and even factoring in the subsidized phones, we save $120 ($280 if upgrade fee not waived) on the 10GB plan for the life of the contract compared to a 700 min, unlimited text and tiered data on each line ($240/mo). The big savings is now, we don't have to keep paying for the phone subsidies if we choose to keep our phones for more than 2 years and really, the only reason my parents even replace their phones is because their batteries don't hold a charge anymore and it's hard to find replacement OEM batteries.