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Price question: What if I switch carriers before my contract is up?

B

bollweevil

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 1, 2008
410
1
I have AT&T and an iPhone 4S, and *639# says I am not eligible for a full discount on an iPhone 5 until 2013. If I buy an iPhone 5 now, it will cost me $250 upgrade fee + $36 + the sticker price of the iPhone 5 (e.g. $199 for a 16 GiB). Here is my question:

If I ditch AT&T and switch to Verizon (which I have been considering for years, because Verizon has better coverage), how large is the fine I will pay for bailing on my 2-year contract early? Does anyone know?

Just to be clear: I am not switching carriers to save money on the iPhone, I would be switching to get better coverage. I just want to know how large the early termination fee is from AT&T.

Thanks.
 
bollweevil said:
I have AT&T and an iPhone 4S, and *639# says I am not eligible for a full discount on an iPhone 5 until 2013. If I buy an iPhone 5 now, it will cost me $250 upgrade fee + $36 + the sticker price of the iPhone 5 (e.g. $199 for a 16 GiB). Here is my question:

If I ditch AT&T and switch to Verizon (which I have been considering for years, because Verizon has better coverage), how large is the fine I will pay for bailing on my 2-year contract early? Does anyone know?

Just to be clear: I am not switching carriers to save money on the iPhone, I would be switching to get better coverage. I just want to know how large the early termination fee is from AT&T.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
It usually depends on how far you are into your contract.
 
My line (main line) is eligible. My wife got her 4 in May 2011. So she isn't eligible till next year. Currently to get out of the contract we are looking at $165-175. However, we are in a market where AT&T doesn't have LTE yet but just (conveniently) announced last week it would be here by year end. If I switch to Verizon, it would cost 199/299/399 depending on model, plus 165-175 for ETF, plus $199 for my wife to get a Verizon 5 or $99 for a Verizon 4S (not interested in getting her a free iPhone 4).

That's $264-374 more than upgrading on AT&T and waiting for LTE. Added to which it my understanding that AT&T LTE speeds are generally faster by 12-18%.
 
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