Corporate Account with AT&T; Want to Use iPhone! What to do?

[Photography]

Hello,

A colleague of mine owns a corporate account with AT&T for his company -- apparently Apple and AT&T have deemed it unnecessary for anyone with a business account to have an iPhone. Are there some hacks that serve as workarounds for this?

Also, are you all aware of anything that would allow him to use his existing number/line and involving minimal drama?

Any possible solutions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Jon'sLightBulbs]

I'm in the same situation and am hoping someone knows a work around!

 

[martinmartin]

I don't know of any work around.

I'm a corporate subscriber on a family plan (4 lines). I was told there were 2 options if I wanted an iphone:
1) Ditch my current plan and create a 1 line consumer account (essentially signing up for a new plan)
2) Switch over our account (including the whole family) to a consumer account where we would still have the same plan but it would be under a consumer account. I'd tack on one of the 20, 30, or 40 dollar iphone plans and that would be the end of it. I'd keep the same phone number.

I called last Friday to request the transfer from corporate to consumer, they put in a 'request' and said I'd be contacted Monday. Then they'll ask for SS#, billing info, etc. I'll have to pay $18 for each of the lines (other that the line to be switched to the iphone) for some BS billing reasons.

If your corporate plan is not offered as one of the standard consumer plans, it may not 'qualify' for the iphone. In other words, you might not be able to just switch over your plan like I'm trying to do.

Hope this helps a bit. Good luck.

 

[7on]

maybe see how the unlock thing goes on monday. That should work, no talking to At&t to change, just put your existing sim in the phone (after unlock)

 

[martinmartin]

maybe see how the unlock thing goes on monday. That should work, no talking to At&t to change, just put your existing sim in the phone (after unlock)

What's the unlock thing?

How would data work? In other words, if I just put my existing SIM in an unlocked iphone, won't I get all sorts of data charges?

Thanks

 

[7on]

What's the unlock thing?

How would data work? In other words, if I just put my existing SIM in an unlocked iphone, won't I get all sorts of data charges?

Thanks

maybe, I don't know - T-mobile blocks data unless you sign up for it. I don't know how AT&T works. I think the data charges people complain about are the email downloads in the background, which can be set to download manually.

Example: If I put my T-mobile sim in an unlocked iPhone I wouldn't use any data because I don't have a data plan.

AT&T may charge you by the MB/KB whether or not you have a data plan (verizon does this, I've had them before). You can always check with a web browser on your phone. I always get "Unauthorized Site" text when I visit anywhere outside of Tzones.

A few threads down:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/352570/

 

[mm1250]

I to wanted to setup my iPhone under a Federal ID number of my business vs. a SS# but it seems that they don't allow the iPhone to be under business accounts. If this keeps up, Apple will never be able to even TOUCH the business segment of the market.

 

[d21mike]

I to wanted to setup my iPhone under a Federal ID number of my business vs. a SS# but it seems that they don't allow the iPhone to be under business accounts. If this keeps up, Apple will never be able to even TOUCH the business segment of the market.

Are you a small business owner or an employee of a corporation that pays your bill along with other employees. I have a small business and just have the bill sent to my company and it is paid just like any other bill. No problem. I am using my SSN to setup the account.

For those using a Blackberry on a business account, how much is your Unlimited Data Plan. My understanding is that you are paying $40 per month. My thinking is that they don't want the $20 per month plan to eat into their business accounts and don't know how to charge busines customers $40 per month. Maybe when 3G comes out they will charge $40 per month for that phone and $20 for the EDGE phone. Just guessing.

 

[martinmartin]

Are you a small business owner or an employee of a corporation that pays your bill along with other employees. I have a small business and just have the bill sent to my company and it is paid just like any other bill. No problem. I am using my SSN to setup the account.

For those using a Blackberry on a business account, how much is your Unlimited Data Plan. My understanding is that you are paying $40 per month. My thinking is that they don't want the $20 per month plan to eat into their business accounts and don't know how to charge busines customers $40 per month. Maybe when 3G comes out they will charge $40 per month for that phone and $20 for the EDGE phone. Just guessing.

I believe Blackberry data plans start at $30/month - that is the charge for one of our BB's. The charge for the other one is $40 which includes more text messages. Both of these include unlimited data (internet, email, etc. (domestic only)).