Good: AT&T not ending 2-year contracts, only their 3rd party retailers are.

[Hal~9000]

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/19/8625985/attt-two-year-contract

The Verge has learned that national, third-party AT&T retailers will stop offering two-year contracts at the end of the month and will instead only offer smartphones with the AT&T Next program or at full retail price...

...AT&T isn't really going that far though, at least not yet. Industry sources tell The Verge that AT&T will continue to offer two-year contracts in its own stores and online, so it's not a coup de grâce for consumers.

Good news for those of us on grandfathered family plans

Currently only pay $3,280 every two years on our grandfathered family plan.
$1200 = 550 min ($50/mo)
$240 = 2nd line ($10/mo)
$1440 = 2 unlimited data plans ($60/mo)
$400 = upfront cost for iPhones which are subsidized ($200 upfront per phone)

If ATT ended 2-year contracts and we were forced to get a family share plan then we would be paying $4,420 every 2-years
$2,400 = 10GB of data x 24 months ($100/mo)
$720 = 2 Smartphone access charge x 24 months ($30/mo)
$1,300 = 2 iPhones financed through NEXT over 24 months

Unlimited talk & text sure aren't worth an extra $1,140 every two years to us (due to an ocean of apps that provide free calling and texting via data) so I'm glad AT&T isn't doing away with 2-year contracts. If AT&T did away with 2-year contracts completely I would have simply moved both our lines to Cricket Wireless $45/mo 5GB plan.

 

[macher]

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/19/8625985/attt-two-year-contract


Good news for those of us on grandfathered family plans

Currently only pay $3,280 every two years on our grandfathered family plan.
$1200 = 550 min ($50/mo)
$240 = 2nd line ($10/mo)
$1440 = 2 unlimited data plans ($60/mo)
$400 = upfront cost for iPhones which are subsidized ($200 upfront per phone)

If ATT ended 2-year contracts and we were forced to get a family share plan then we would be paying $4,420 every 2-years
$2,400 = 10GB of data x 24 months ($100/mo)
$720 = 2 Smartphone access charge x 24 months ($30/mo)
$1,300 = 2 iPhones financed through NEXT over 24 months

Unlimited talk & text sure aren't worth an extra $1,140 every two years to us (due to an ocean of apps that provide free calling and texting via data) so I'm glad AT&T isn't doing away with 2-year contracts. If AT&T did away with 2-year contracts completely I would have simply moved both our lines to Cricket Wireless $45/mo 5GB plan.

AT&T wouldn't force us that have UDP to mobile share. But they can end 2 year contract subsidies.

 

[C DM]

Interesting. Verizon doesn't allow contract subsidies for those on older plans as I recall...interesting that AT&T doesn't do something similar.

 

[Hal~9000]

AT&T wouldn't force us that have UDP to mobile share. But they can end 2 year contract subsidies.

If they had killed off the subsidies they currently provide (for 2-year contracts) then that would have effectively killed off the value of the plan. Anyone holding onto unlimited data would have had to pay an extra $450 every 2-years per line!

While some would say that's fine, I personally would not stay with the same company that decided to stop reimbursing me $900 every two-years while continuing to charge me the same price for service as before.

If I had to I would have simply switch my lines to Crickets $45/mo 5gb plan for only $3,460 over a 2-year period:
$2,160 = $45/mo 5gb plan for 2 phones ($90/mo)
$1,300 = 2 unlocked iPhones bought at full retail

 

[Newtons Apple]

I tend to not deal with third party sellers and prefer to buy directly from Apple where I can and AT&T if I can't.

 

[Hal~9000]

Interesting. Verizon doesn't allow contract subsidies for those on older plans as I recall...interesting that AT&T doesn't do something similar.

Yeah, on Verizon it's worth it to keep your unlimited plan because they can't throttle 4g LTE data per FCC rules when they bought spectrum, so people are ok with losing a $450 subsidy as long as they can tether and use their phones data connection as their home WiFi.

With an AT&T 'unlimited' data plan though you get throttled whenever you're on a congested tower after you've used your initial 5gb for the month (aka "Network Optimization"), so it might not be as worth it to keep paying an extra $450/2-years via loss of subsidy the way it is worth it with Verizon.

I tend to not deal with third party sellers and prefer to buy directly from Apple where I can and AT&T if I can't.

Yeah, same here. I try to go through Apple if at all possible since AT&T charges a $35 restocking fee.

 

[C DM]

If they had killed off the subsidies they currently provide (for 2-year contracts) then that would have effectively killed off the value of the plan. Anyone holding onto unlimited data would have had to pay an extra $450 every 2-years per line!

While some would say that's fine, I personally would not stay with the same company that decided to stop reimbursing me $900 every two-years while continuing to charge me the same price for service as before.

If I had to I would have simply switch my lines to Crickets $45/mo 5gb plan for only $3,460 over a 2-year period:
$2,160 = $45/mo 5gb plan for 2 phones ($90/mo)
$1,300 = 2 unlocked iPhones bought at full retail

Verizon did that very thing a while back to make it harder to stay on the older plans.

 

[barkomatic]

If they had killed off the subsidies they currently provide (for 2-year contracts) then that would have effectively killed off the value of the plan. Anyone holding onto unlimited data would have had to pay an extra $450 every 2-years per line!

While some would say that's fine, I personally would not stay with the same company that decided to stop reimbursing me $900 every two-years while continuing to charge me the same price for service as before.

If I had to I would have simply switch my lines to Crickets $45/mo 5gb plan for only $3,460 over a 2-year period:
$2,160 = $45/mo 5gb plan for 2 phones ($90/mo)
$1,300 = 2 unlocked iPhones bought at full retail

I'd happily pay the full retail price of an iPhone to keep unlimited--especially now that AT&T has relaxed their throttling policies. In fact, I was ready to do just that when the iPhone 6s was released. AT&T charges $375 for 50GB of data and I pay $30 for unlimited. Clearly, these are incredible savings for someone who uses a lot of data and let's face it--people are using more and more as features become more data hungry. I remember people saying that 1GB was way too much. . .

I tend to not deal with third party sellers and prefer to buy directly from Apple where I can and AT&T if I can't.

I'm wondering though if AT&T would consider Apple a "third party"? Remember, we are talking about the contract plan not the iPhone itself. Hope that's not the case though.

 

[Hal~9000]

Verizon did that very thing a while back to make it harder to stay on the older plans.

Yeah, before they used to give you a $450 subsidy every two years with a 2-year contract (basically a credit of $18.75/mo x 24 months) and simply rolled that cost to them into your monthly service, charging an extra $18.75/mo to make sure they didn't lose any money.

Now they simply cut the 2-year subsidy, effectively raising the price $18.75/mo to keep your Unlimited Data Plan.

 

[Rayfire]

I think this is more geared to Android phones being sold at other retailers, since they can offer $50 (or less) when you're under contract with AT&T. This would effectively make them pay the full phone or Next unless they go to an actual AT&T store to get subsidy.

Still, I'm happy that AT&T is still deciding to leave this option for us, especially me on a single UDP plan with them.

 

[Applejuiced]

Interesting. Verizon doesn't allow contract subsidies for those on older plans as I recall...interesting that AT&T doesn't do something similar.

Dont give them any ideas

 

[C DM]

Dont give them any ideas

I'm sure they already know. But, yeah, hopefully they keep it the way they have it and not push on it anymore.

 

[Applejuiced]

I'm sure they already know. But, yeah, hopefully they keep it the way they have it and not push on it anymore.

I hear you.
But in verizon's case even though they don't allow subsidies on those old unlimited data plans I remember there was plenty of workarounds for people to get the subsidized price and keep their plan.
Probably not everyone knew about it but many have found ways to do it.

But I guess AT&T in the past always let people keep their old grandfathered plans as long as they wanted and provided subsidized upgrades.
Now they're feeling the pressure by T Mobile's attack and major changes to the way the wireless industry was for years. We're seeing big changes the past few years and finally some healthy competition with deals and more options for consumers.
Before that it was about how we're going to take away options, find ways to charge you more and provide you less and make more money for our pockets from the 2 big US wireless carriers

 

[mhdena]

I tend to not deal with third party sellers and prefer to buy directly from Apple where I can and AT&T if I can't.

Got my 4 from Apple online order.

Got my 5 from Best Buy, deep discount as the 5s was coming.

Got my 6 from AT&T with $200 iphone 4 trade-in $167net

Whoever has the best deal is where I go.

 

[cousintim]

Whoever has the best deal is where I go.

Not if you want a two-year contract.

 

[Nhwhazup]

Does ATT consider Apple a third party?

 

[surfologist87]

Good?
Not good when your only option now is a commission based sales person at att and not an hourly best buy, target or walmart employee etc. who cares less at the end of the day. But at least there is still the option, unlike Verizon.

 

[aneftp]

Does ATT consider Apple a third party?

Yes. Apple is third party.

Only official ATT stores and official ATT online offer 2 year contracts now.

 

[cousintim]

The next phone release (6s) will be a mess.

 

[mhdena]

Not if you want a two-year contract.

AT&T is usually the best deal for me, long (17yr+) time customer they are very good for billing credits, full early upgrades (had the 5 for less than a year and was given full upgrade status) to 6, etc.

YMMV

 

[macher]

AT&T is usually the best deal for me, long (17yr+) time customer they are very good for billing credits, full early upgrades (had the 5 for less than a year and was given full upgrade status) to 6, etc.

YMMV

Yea same. With the iPhone's you can usually get full upgrade in a year.

 

[JayIsAwesome]

That's weird b/c the AT&T corporate stores in my area do not offer 2yr contracts at all. If a customer really wants to get a 2yr, they tell them to come to best buy. Sprint does the exact same thing. As much as it sucks for some customers, the 2yr contract is coming to an end. With Best Buy, we're suppose to stop offering 2yr contracts for AT&T and Sprint very very soon (matter of weeks, is what I was told) Verizon will still offer them tho.

 

[AliCat82]

Maybe they've already started this.

I was looking at the Best Buy website and both the iPhone 6 and 6+ do not show a 2 year contract option for the 16GB and the 64GB. They only show pricing for NEXT and for an unlocked version (which is $50 higher than AT&T directly). If you look at the 128GB version for the 6 and 6+, the 2 yr contract price is still there. Maybe they are limiting it to the smaller ones because they are more popular? Or maybe by next Monday the 2yr option on the 128 will go away too. Who knows.

I think the whole thing is crap personally, but my opinion means nothing in the grand scheme of things.

 

[currocj]

Yes, so slowly all of the Best Buys, Apple Stores, and other 3rd party retailers will completely stop offering the subsidized pricing. You'll only be able to get that pricing via AT&T directly. Then they'll stop offering it in-store and only online. Then only for business customers. Then they'll finally axe it. When? Who knows...

 

[lakaiordie]

i went to a corporate store on sunday and overheard a rep saying they aren't doing 2yr contracts anymore.