AT&T Exec Says Wireless Companies Soon Won’t Be Footing Bill For Customers

[mrjarrell]

Looks like the days of subsidised phones may well be coming to an end. Honestly cannot say how I feel about it. If it brings plan prices down it may well balance out. But I do like not paying $600 for a cell phone.

AT&T Exec Says Wireless Companies Soon Won't Be Footing Bill For Customers' Devices - Consumerist

 

[romad7]

You pay for it either way since they charge more if you do the 2 year contract discount, they recoup the subsidy in your monthly bill. In the past they just kept charging extra for the subsidy even after 2 years. Now if you bring your own phone or pay full price upfront or in payments you get a good discount over the 2 year contract price. It's all the same in the end.

Im on the NEXT plan and pay $32/month for a $750 phone. All my lines have a $25 discount since none are under contract.

 

[NavyVet]

How many people continue to pay the higher 'subsidized rate' long after their phones have been 'paid off'? The phone companies make too much many to not continue this practice.

 

[romad7]

I think people are catching on and complaining loudly. That and the competition between providers is causing them to take drastic measures. That's what the bring your own device and payment plans are all about. I've been off the subsidized rate for a long time now.

 

[HoughMade]

When phones last for years after the initial contract is up and new phone have incremental improvements, meaning that there's no real need to upgrade every other year, this makes perfect sense. It only doesn't make sense when someone always has to have the latest phone and is upgrading when there are years of life left in the phone when it is turned in. It's like the difference between leasing and buying a car.

I'm still rocking my LG530g not-so-smart-phone from Tracfone, spending under $100 a year for service that does everything I need it to.

 

[lovemachine]

The world was a better place before cell phones.

 

[BogWalker]

Rocking the same flip phone for six years, and I have a feeling it's got a good number of years left in it. I never understood how some people manage to break 2 to 3 phones a year.

Doesn't sound like a bad switch from a customer's standpoint. You were surely paying the cost of the phone either way. At least this way the costs are more upfront in nature.

 

[Cameramonkey]

And just like college tuition, subsidies and financing is not always a GOOD thing.

If they stop subsidizing the phones, few will be willing to pony up over $500 for a phone, and the device manufacturers will be forced to drop their prices. Why are phones and tuition so high? Because there is no downward pressure working on the costs. Cant afford to buy that $650 iphone? Just roll it into the plan and you can get it. When there is less opportunity to finance the hardware, prices will have to drop to meet what consumers are willing (and able) to pay.

Why doesnt my wife have a new iphone? Because she uses straight talk. They dont subsidize. Its $650 if she wants to have one. No thanks. Her used, carrier unlocked iphone 4 works just fine.

 

[tatic05]

The world was a better place before cell phones.

Ehh, I wouldnt say better just different. Its a double edged sword.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Rocking the same flip phone for six years, and I have a feeling it's got a good number of years left in it. I never understood how some people manage to break 2 to 3 phones a year.

Some people work in very rugged work environments wherein "stuff happens"... phones fall out of pockets, get dropped on hard objects, get laid on, landed on, hit hard, etc... I guess it depends on your line of work.

FWIW, ruggedness, size, & battery life is the reason I refuse to get a smart-phone. I would kill a smart phone in short order if I had one, and I sort of like my battery life of 7-11 days per charge.

 

[SMiller]

Verizon has been saying this for the last two years, when they came out with the edge program they said you can plan on free phones going away.

 

[Clay]

Looks like the days of subsidised phones may well be coming to an end. Honestly cannot say how I feel about it. If it brings plan prices down it may well balance out. But I do like not paying $600 for a cell phone.

AT&T Exec Says Wireless Companies Soon Won't Be Footing Bill For Customers' Devices - Consumerist

Found out about this yesterday as the Best Buy Mobile place I stopped at was REALLY pushing the AT&T Next plan. It actually increases my overall cost.

Im on the NEXT plan and pay $32/month for a $750 phone. All my lines have a $25 discount since none are under contract.

I think you're off just a bit. The Next plan connection fee with a contract is $40/month and with out a contract is $25/month. So you're saving $15. At least that's how they explained it to me. Since I'm upgrading and the wife is not (her contract isn't up yet) then she has to pay a $40 connection fee, but I only have to pay $25 IF we go to the next plan. Once her contact expires, she goes to the Next plan, then she pays $25.

Data rates were meh, but the killer is the phone.

Samsung Galaxy S6: $25 / month
Samsung Galaxy S5: $18 / month
Samsung Galaxy Note 4: $28 / month

OR if I go somewhere (Sam's club) that will give me contract pricing:

Samsung Galaxy S6: $187
Samsung Galaxy S5: $1
Samsung Galaxy Note 4: $127

and my phone plan price stays the same.

The only way my plan gets cheaper is if the wife can get on Next and then we might be $15/month cheaper.

PLUS you can't get a new phone until the old phone is paid off. So lets do some math:

$750 Note 4 / $28 month = 27 months, so you're still going about 2 years, and I'm sure that's the plan. BUT you can pay off the phone ahead of time and get a new phone earlier.

There are things I like about it, but right now it's not advantageous enough for me to switch. If this drives prices down more then maybe I'll consider going that way the next time.

 

[romad7]

I get $25 off of $40. I think there are 2 levels of discount depending on your data plan. I'm on a 30gb share plan, locked in a really good rate.

Just checked and its $15 discount for under 10gb and $25 for 10 and over

 

[Clay]

ahhh there you go. I was under 10.

 

[SMiller]

With Verizon if you are over 10gig you save a few dollars bt using the edge plan where as under 10gig it cost you money, the idiots at the store push the edge plan so hard it is sick, they can't seem to do math at all as they tried screwinf my grandparents over but the simple math was more then the sales guy could handle.

 

[CathyInBlue]

The world was a better place before cell phones.

^^^ THIS ^^^

I don't have a cellphone, and I never plan to.

However—

I just saw a story on /. about Microsoft owning all of Nokia's IP to try to shore up the Windows Phone subsidiary. That IP included old, existing hardware models of Nokia dumb phones, like the 105, which for some reason, they were still releasing as new hardware. So, I fired up Google Shopping and found that I can get a blue unlocked Nokia 105 for $25 + $7 shipping straight to my home from China. Get a SIM card and a car charger, and I have a 9-1-1 dialer that I can keep in my car for emergencies only. Keep the battery out of the phone until I need to use the phone to prevent it from being tracked by the cell towers, or the microphone activated without my knowledge, and it's perfect.

Now, if I could actually activate it for something nominal, like $10/mo. with only world-wide talk, no text, no data, I could consider getting another one and just keeping it at home. Become a phone cord-cutter.

I never liked the idea of getting the hardware and service from the same place. If I were of a mind to become one of the masses of cellular zombies with a phone superglued to my face everywhere I went, I'd still insist on finding the best hardware to meet my particular needs and then taking whatever I got to the service provider of my choice with the service plan that fit my needs and having them activate my hardware to function with their network. This still seems somewhat antithetical to the existing market. And I'd still not be locking in with a 2 year plan. Month to month is much better in my eyes.

 

[MCgrease08]

So Cathy, what I hear you saying is that you post to INGO from your computer?

Good gravy woman, get with the times.

 

[looney2ns]

^^^ THIS ^^^

I don't have a cellphone, and I never plan to.

However—

I just saw a story on /. about Microsoft owning all of Nokia's IP to try to shore up the Windows Phone subsidiary. That IP included old, existing hardware models of Nokia dumb phones, like the 105, which for some reason, they were still releasing as new hardware. So, I fired up Google Shopping and found that I can get a blue unlocked Nokia 105 for $25 + $7 shipping straight to my home from China. Get a SIM card and a car charger, and I have a 9-1-1 dialer that I can keep in my car for emergencies only. Keep the battery out of the phone until I need to use the phone to prevent it from being tracked by the cell towers, or the microphone activated without my knowledge, and it's perfect.

Now, if I could actually activate it for something nominal, like $10/mo. with only world-wide talk, no text, no data, I could consider getting another one and just keeping it at home. Become a phone cord-cutter.

I never liked the idea of getting the hardware and service from the same place. If I were of a mind to become one of the masses of cellular zombies with a phone superglued to my face everywhere I went, I'd still insist on finding the best hardware to meet my particular needs and then taking whatever I got to the service provider of my choice with the service plan that fit my needs and having them activate my hardware to function with their network. This still seems somewhat antithetical to the existing market. And I'd still not be locking in with a 2 year plan. Month to month is much better in my eyes.

We just went to: www.Ting.com
A refreshing change from Verizon's horrendously expensiveness.

 

[CathyInBlue]

So Cathy, what I hear you saying is that you post to INGO from your computer?

Good gravy woman, get with the times.

Exactly right. A computer I put together from components I selected, running software I compiled from source, speaking to my ISP's hardware using open communications protocols.

 

[romad7]

Cathy,

I read somewhere that even if you don't have a plan that a cell phone will still do 911. So, if that's all you need, it might work for you without paying a monthly fee.