Effective 01/08/16 AT&T will no longer offer new contracts or subsidized phones to consumers. You will have to buy phones outright or pay for them on installment plans.
Verizon still allows consumers on grandfathered plans to receive subsidized phones with new contracts, but AT&T will not be grandfathering any consumers. You can lock into a final 2 year contract with a subsidized phone at an AT&T store by 01/07, but after that there will be no more consumer contracts.
Both AT&T and Verizon will still offer contracts and subsidized phones on business plans.
For now Sprint still offers 2 year contracts with subsidized phones to all customers.
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22 Comments On "Last Chance For An AT&T Subsidized Phone"
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wow, didn’t know that..will go get my new 2 year contract w att asap then. thank you!
What about sprint? aren’t they also stopping contracst?
@Ym:
Not that I’ve seen.
Before renewing a contract just for the phone, check out other plans. It’s usually cheaper and might be worth to pay for the phone yourself such as T-Mobile etc.
I’m confused by the statement that this is going in effect in January. 3-4 months ago we tried to upgrade phones in our family (AT&T) and were only offered the ability to buy phones outright or pay $25 a month (plus tax) for 2 years – which works out to buying the phone on an installment plan. If anyone knows how to get an old school upgrade, please put info in the comments! I’ll run to do it before the deadline.
@Fafa123:
You need to go into an AT&T corporate owned store and ask for it.
this doesnt chg much for me…
even in the past, i have purchased phones from ebay, and used it on att… they give a $15 discount (may not be anymore) a month to not use their upgrade system…
unless you need the newest phone the day it comes out…
otherwise if u wait a few months, the phone prices on ebay is usually cheaper in the long run!!
I went into the at and t corporate store. Was told there’s an extra charge for two-year plans as well.
Same as @Fafa123
Does it pay to get 2 year phone if they change the discount on the per line access fees?
@Sol:
Probably depends on the plan. If you’re on an old unlimited plan or something then your rate won’t change with a new contract.
Without the free phone incentive, what’s going to keep loads of customers from going over to cricket wireless?
Like @Sol, my experience was at a brick and mortar AT&T store. Don’t recall any plan changes, just the price of the phone.
With any of the AT&T or Verizon plans from the last few years (since the data sharing started), it’s not worth it to get the subsidized phone.
The monthly charge per line is an extra $20-$25 on those plans with a subsidized phone. The subsidy is worth about $450 (sometimes less) which comes out to less than $19 a month (without interest). You’re better off paying in full for your phone and paying $20-$25 less per month (depending on provider/plan).
@Attcustomer Generally no. But it may if you’re on the older plans. If you’re on a data share plan the discount on the per line access fee is better than the phone subsidy.
from my research the best thing is to buy the phone outright if you have the $. lets say $650 for iphone 6. its cheapest and you’re not locked in for 2 years, and most importantly you have insurance with amex for extended warranty, purchase prot. etc on the full amount.
u are paying for the phone in the contract $25/ month and lets say $200 at sign up( iphone 6s)plus $40 activation fee. comes out to $840, if u buy the phone its $750
Don’t sign a contract! I just got the Nexus 5x phone and it’s unlocked and 100% compatible with all 4 of the big 4 carriers: AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile. It also works on all many prepaid sub-brands (cricket, Metro PCS, etc). It even works with Google Fi and it will also work in most countries around the world (including Europe, Israel, etc). You can always switch back and forth between carriers. If you want a bigger phablet get the Nexus 6p.
These unlocked Nexus phones are the best!
I am an att customer and was on the 2 yr contract until the end of November. i could have renewed and gotten subsidized phone, or switched to next and pay the phone in installments. My voice/data charges would change too. I simply crunched all the numbers to see what would be the least expensive and wouldn’t you know it – black friday weekend, best buy had a $250 gift card offer when upgrading and moving to att next. so, i went with the installment plan with a down payment ($252), used the $250 gift card towards the down payment and voila! Over the next 2 years, this came out costing the least amount overall. no commitment – but if i want to move carriers, i need to pay off the phone. bottom line – the 2 year contract may not necessarily be the most cost efficient. ymmv.
Never had to pay for the phones- i simply took the free ones, I was told by ATT corporate store I need to do the upgrade online/ or call ATT, they don’t offer it at stores anymore.
FYI, I upgraded with new 2-year contract thru Amazon, which still seems to offer the same old discount that had previously been afforded for upgrades. I dd this 3 months ago and it was still working at that time..
People may want to jump on Cricket’s crazy deal. 5 lines for $100/mth (tax inc.). Port from any carries except ATT (because Cricket is part of & runs ATT systrm) & get great deals in phones. Oh, and get up to $500 credit (= 5 months free). Deal end Jan. 6
For any sprint ppl who want an iPhone and have an upgrade, Best Buy has the iPhone 6s 128gb the same price as the 16gb , $199 with 2yr upgrade