iPhone 3GS AT&T 4 months

[isaaclimdc]

I will be doing a 4-month course in the states come next month, and then will be moving away to Singapore for 3 years. I really want to get an iPhone 3GS, but can't seem to think of a way without the 2-year contract. Anyone know of a way apart from getting an unlocked/jailbroken one? I like AT&T's unlimited data plan..

Thanks.

 

[SFStateStudent]

If you can show AT&T that you are moving into an area that they don't provide coverage, then you would not have to pay the ETF nor would you have to be held to the two-year contract. So, setup the two-year contract, then when it's time to get ready to move in four months, you'll just show them verification that you are moving outside of their coverage and international rates would be astronomical......

 

[isaaclimdc]

Hmm.. interesting suggestion. You think that's feasible? Will they be fine with it? Or should I be looking at other carriers... but I want a legit iPhone. I hate jailbroken phones..

 

[jackiecanev2]

Wirelessly posted (BB 8900: BlackBerry8900/4.6.1.250 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/301)

They will terminate your agreement without the ETF if you can prove that you are legitimately moving out of the country. There's no point in getting a 3gs on tmobile (no 3g), and besides, you'd be hard pressed to find one out-of-contract and if you did there would be an astronomical price tag for it.

 

[goosnarrggh]

You may want to keep in mind what will happen to the iPone after you move. Since you hate hacked phones, it will be useless to you once you leave the country. (I suppose you could resell it second-hand to recoup some of your expenses.)

 

[aneftp]

Wirelessly posted (BB 8900: BlackBerry8900/4.6.1.250 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/301)

They will terminate your agreement without the ETF if you can prove that you are legitimately moving out of the country. There's no point in getting a 3gs on tmobile (no 3g), and besides, you'd be hard pressed to find one out-of-contract and if you did there would be an astronomical price tag for it.

Are you sure about that? I thought only military and their families moving with them have their ETFs waived when moving out of the United States

 

[isaaclimdc]

Can AT&T really terminate the contract w/o ETF if I can prove that I'm leaving the country? That sounds awfully nice in my opinion.. and if so, would be great!

As for what happens after, my dad will be happy to take my phone, as he loves Cydia apps

Also, just wondering.. I'm not a U.S. citizen so don't have a Social Security Number. When creating an AT&T wireless account, it asks for one. How can I do this?

Thanks for all the input.

 

[aneftp]

Can AT&T really terminate the contract w/o ETF if I can prove that I'm leaving the country? That sounds awfully nice in my opinion.. and if so, would be great!

As for what happens after, my dad will be happy to take my phone, as he loves Cydia apps

Also, just wondering.. I'm not a U.S. citizen so don't have a Social Security Number. When creating an AT&T wireless account, it asks for one. How can I do this?

Thanks for all the input.

No Social Security Number means no subsidized iPhone for you. Period.

It will be very hard (next to impossible) for ATT to let you go into a post-paid contract if you have no SSN. You could run up a bill in the thousands of dollars and they could not go after you.

The only option would be to sign a prepaid contract and get iphone 3g s on the black market for a much higher price.

 

[iOrlando]

never heard of AT&T allowing someone to cancel due to moving out of coverage. That raises alot of questions (i.e. student who is abroad for a semester...what proof would you need to show an actual move that isnt just for a few months).

I think you need to give them a call on that one to get a finite answer and not guesses or hearsay.

 

[goosnarrggh]

AT&T's terms of service includes a section on off-network usage. They place a monthly upper limit on the amount of domestic roaming airtime minutes (40% of your Anytime minutes to a maximum of 750 minutes), or domestic roaming data usage (20% of your regular limit up to a maximum of 24 MB) or domestic roaming text messages (50% of your text messaging limit to a maximum of 3000 messages).

If you exceed these upper limits, AT&T will contact you to inform you of the fact.

If, after being informed of the fact, you continue to consistently exceed the upper limits, AT&T may, at its option, convert your service to one that has a surcharge on domestic roaming, or prohibit you from connecting to the network at all whilst you are roaming domestically, or suspend your account.

Upon being informed of the fact that AT&T is about to make any such changes to your account, if you do not agree to the change, you may terminate the service immediately without penalty.

All this deals with off-network domestic roaming (ie traveling to another area inside the USA where AT&T doesn't own its own infrastructure), though, and it deals with somebody who's continued to use their service after they move; not with somebody who's planning to leaving the country entirely and hasn't even started doing any roaming.

 

[csmitty]

No Social Security Number means no subsidized iPhone for you. Period.

It will be very hard (next to impossible) for ATT to let you go into a post-paid contract if you have no SSN. You could run up a bill in the thousands of dollars and they could not go after you.

The only option would be to sign a prepaid contract and get iphone 3g s on the black market for a much higher price.

Its funny/terrible that it only works one way. I go two years never missing a payment, never reported on my credit. But I miss one, and they tack it on there. Actually I guess its everyone, I'm late one payment on a CC and they waste no time to put that on my history. Of course that way they make more money with higher intrest rates now that I have lower rating. Ugggghhhhh