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Data Plan Optional? AT&T Activation

Now all I want to know is does this have a mini PCI interface anywhere in it, and can I hack it to work with EVDO?
 
didn't apple say you needed itunes to activate the iphone? would that be just for content or are there no account activities going on there?
 
If that's the case, techincally couldn't you buy an iPhone, ditch Cingular activation and keep it for that price without the phone part of it? I don't see why not! Buy the phone, then opt out of the service!
 
from what I've heard from Apple employees, there won't be any activation in the Apple stores, just the sale of the phone.
 
You can always opt out of your data plans within the first month without penalty. The phone plans, however, are locked into the contract and you can't opt out of those without paying the early termination charges.

I suspect that there might be a plan that they might try to push you into, but not once have we heard that we would need to agree to a data plan. All we have heard is 2-year contract.
 
Mykbibby said:
If that's the case, techincally couldn't you buy an iPhone, ditch Cingular activation and keep it for that price without the phone part of it? I don't see why not! Buy the phone, then opt out of the service!
Click to expand...

WOW 😱 If this is possible BOY would Cingular be pissed!
 
Hmmmm.... so say someone buys an iphone from the apple store
tries to activate it and gets refused by AT&T, say they have bad credit
or no credit card etc... would you be able to return the 'opened and smudged'
iphone to the store?

over here in the UK companies are quite strict with credit checks for
contract phones, dunno about the states
 
Well, this sounds like the phone's unlocked and I doubt Apple will tolerate any branding but their own. If that's really the case, I'll get one of my contacts stateside to pick one up, cancel the contract and post it here. Job's a good'un! 😀
 
u72 said:
Hmmmm.... so say someone buys an iphone from the apple store
tries to activate it and gets refused by AT&T, say they have bad credit
or no credit card etc... would you be able to return the 'opened and smudged'
iphone to the store?

over here in the UK companies are quite strict with credit checks for
contract phones, dunno about the states
Click to expand...

Good point. I had an Australian friend who moved over to Hawaii and couldn't get a phone until he'd had a credit card for a year.
 
Sounds weird and complex to me. One thing is certain: when iPhone arrives to Europe it must be unlocked with no contracts at all. This is what some off the local laws say. And as I said before, in Finland it is illegal to sell locked non 3G phones. So in here it will definitely be unlocked and sold just the phone it self. But what will be the price? Best Nokias are about 600-700€ (700-800$) and reasonable price for iPhone would be less than 500€.

So before christmas you can buy one unlocked piece from Europe. Free to choose your operator and even use the prepaid services. Simple.

One option is that Apple uprages iPhone to 3G device before selling it in Europe..
 
Why would you want to spend so much on a phone and not have a data plan to go with it? If you just wanted a WiFi browser, there are much cheaper alternatives.
 
NewSc2 said:
If you just wanted a WiFi browser, there are much cheaper alternatives.
Click to expand...
Aye, and if you just wanted a computer, there are cheaper alternatives. 😉

Some folks like the iPhone. Doesn't mean they like feeling "forced" to take on that additional data plan. Especially in some areas where the abundance of wifi would make such a plan a pricey redundancy.
 
Because no matter what AT&T claims EDGE is barely faster than dialup.

Why pay $20/month (or more) for such slow speed?

BTW, I don't know of any carrier that requires a contract for data access.

I can turn EVDO data on and off from month to month if I want it on my (tetherable) Verizon phone.

NewSc2 said:
Why would you want to spend so much on a phone and not have a data plan to go with it? If you just wanted a WiFi browser, there are much cheaper alternatives.
Click to expand...
 
ncbill said:
Because no matter what AT&T claims EDGE is barely faster than dialup.

Why pay $20/month (or more) for such slow speed?

BTW, I don't know of any carrier that requires a contract for data access.

I can turn EVDO data on and off from month to month if I want it on my (tetherable) Verizon phone.
Click to expand...

Can't you use data transfer without a contract or month-by-month agreement? Over here, data access is available to every customer with a SIM card.
 
daschor said:
Now all I want to know is does this have a mini PCI interface anywhere in it, and can I hack it to work with EVDO?
Click to expand...
Yes, I'm sure those features are right next to the Flux capacitor.

What, are you just throwing out words here, or do you know what you're talking about? Its about as likely to have a mini-PCI interface as an iPod is I'd guess, why would they waste space with an internal expansion port and what would you use it for?

As for EVDO, its what Verizon uses (i.e. totally different technology to GSM based Cingular/AT&T). If what you're trying to say is "will they hack iPhone to work with Verizon", the answer is: No, of course not!
 
If this holds to be true, that will bring the ebay'ers out as they will not be tied to a contract and can resell it. I don't like that idea...
 
cal6n said:
Well, this sounds like the phone's unlocked and I doubt Apple will tolerate any branding but their own. If that's really the case, I'll get one of my contacts stateside to pick one up, cancel the contract and post it here. Job's a good'un! 😀
Click to expand...

I still don't see anything indicating that the phone will be unlocked and given the fact that AT&T will have a multi-year exclusive it would be quite safe to assume that it will be locked to only work with the AT&T network... It's just that it will (might?) be sold without forcing a two year contract (when purchased at the Apple store) - The main point is, the phone itself could still be packaged / marketed with "Activation only available on AT&T" stipulation.

Dave
 
I hope that this doesn't mean if you buy one at an AT&T store, they would open the box up and activate it for you. I HATE it when an employee opens up the box 😡
 
NewSc2 said:
Why would you want to spend so much on a phone and not have a data plan to go with it? If you just wanted a WiFi browser, there are much cheaper alternatives.
Click to expand...

Same reason I'd buy a Mac. As far as phones go, it just plain works! Personally I find all other phones totally unsatisfactory (complicated, difficult to use) I trust this one will be easy to use, synch simply and reliably, and be an iPod to boot. I'm content taking advantage of 2 of the 3 device-features.
 
If this is true, I would be able to afford an iPhone for my fiancee and myself...

I can afford the $60.00/month two-person family plan, but not an additional $40.00+/mo data plan. That's an extra $500/year * 2 phones for a grand total of a grand per year. That would be the monetary equivalent of buying 2 iPhones a year in data plans alone.

-Clive
 
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