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AT&T To Offer No-Contract iPhone
rfc1394 writes "While the regular price of an iPhone is $199 if you take a 2-year contract with AT&T, if you're willing to pay a lot more you can get one without a contract. An article in InfoWorld mentions that 'Freedom will come with a price — $599 for an 8GB device and $699 for a 16GB — but this will mark the first time consumers in the United States are able to buy an iPhone without being tied down to a two-year contract. The phone probably would still be locked for use only on AT&T's network, said Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg. But buyers could choose a pay-as-you-go plan for voice service.' The question still remains, does it make any sense to pay that much for a phone that is still locked to AT&T's network even if you aren't bound to a contract?" Update: 07/05 18:21 GMT by T : An anonymous reader suggests that there is a convoluted but possibly cheaper route to an new, unlocked iPhone.
So I buy a phone outright for $599/$699, or I buy a phone for $199/$299 with a 2 year plan ($36 activation fee) then cancel the contract immediately for $175...net cost $410/$510. Hmmmm.....
The NSA: The only part of the US government that actually listens.
Fail
What if the phone gets "stolen"?
When an OpenMoko is cheaper and has better hardware specifications?
Here in the States, you are always locked into a provider, even if the phone is popular enough to be sold be more by than one provider. If the iPhone is supposed to be the future of computing in general, I don't know why it's only being sold as a phone. Or is it really only best used as a phone with a few other features? With the software base so limited, it's hard to tell. I would think Apple would sell these outright to people who want a portable computer (and then force you into AT&Ts maw if you still wanted to poen up the phone function). Palm was brilliant to open development to all comers, but Jobs' need for control is crippling an otherwise highly advanced piece of electronics.
Just FYI... the new data plan with AT&T is $30/month while the old plan (Edge) was only $20/month
SO with the new phone you're already paying $120/year more than previous... which means people are actually paying more money over the 2 year period... $199 + $240 (2 year contract) = $459
A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
Just ordered my FreeRunner. Yes, it's $400, and yes it doesn't work perfectly yet but it's a big step up from what I have now (no phone at all) and the approx $10/month I will make in calls will be just fine with T-Mobile's PAYG vs being locked into yet another telco service contract.
It's a comparable price with a high-end Blackberry, Treo, or HTC, and those sell just fine in the US market. It's not riding coach, but it's not riding first class either. Expensive... but it's a smart phone, not a plain cell.
I don't use my cell much -- I could easily get away with 50 minutes a month. I don't text much. I don't need much data transfer since I'm usually have wi-fi access. But I love a PDA. Sticking the two together but letting me stay on a pay-as-you-go plan would be perfect -- it'd save a light user like me about a grand over 2 years ($70*12*2 + 199 vs. $15*12*2 + $599). They'd get one more hardware sale out of it. Win/Win.
Too bad Rogers isn't doing the same... yet. (Actually, I'm holding out for Android or the next OpenMoko... but still.)
FWIW, the iPhone box clearly states a 2-year agreement is required, as did/does the web site. One can be forgiven for not knowing about the prepaid option.
This is getting better and better...
They have a special iPhone section ((4) iPHONE TERMS AND CONDITIONS): Terms Applicable to AT&T Nation/FamilyTalk® GSM Plans: Credit approval required. Subscriber must live and have a mailing address within AT&T's owned network coverage area. An early termination fee applies if service is terminated before the end of the contract term. The fee will begin at $175 per device and decrease by $5 each month for the term of the agreement. If phone is returned within 3 days, activation fee will be refunded. If phone is returned within 14 days in like-new condition with all components, early termination fee will be waived. Service may be cancelled after 14 days but within 30 days and early termination fee will be waived, but equipment may not be returned. All other charges apply. Some dealers impose additional fees.
So they explicitly say that you can cancel the service between 14 and 30 days, avoid the early termination fee, but don't have to return the iPhone. As an aside, this section also implies that the "you may be required to return devices" in the other part of the contract indeed only applies to the first 30 day period, but the explicit iPhone section makes the various interpretations of the other section mute for this question.
So, we can buy the iPhone outright for $599/$699 or we can get a contract and cancel it after 14 days (but before 30 days) and pay a net of $235/$335. As my son would say Sweeeet.
The NSA: The only part of the US government that actually listens.
AT&T has explicitly said that even without a contract you still have a locked phone and the same choices for plans (i.e. minimum $70 a month +taxes and fees for voice/data, with no sms).
That doesn't sound like pay-as-you-go is allowed to me. Which is a shame, because if it was I might actually be interested. A $500 phone, $30 a month for data, and a hundred bucks for a year worth of minutes and SMSes is a better deal for me than a $200 phone plus $75+taxes+fees every month for more minutes than I use in a year.
AT&T needs to let people who don't use their phone as a phone that much buy what they want.
"The worst tyrannies were the ones where a governance required its own logic on every embedded node." - Vernor Vinge
All we need now are for some Canadians to reiterate how shafted they feel by their only GSM provider :)
Not just the monopoly GSM provider, but the CDMA providers as well.
Canada is in the dark ages when it comes to cell phones & service. The CEO of RIM (maker of the blackberry, a Canadian company) has said many times that the ridiculous prices of Canadian cell phone companies are impeding progress.
Canada has the highest prices in the western world when it comes to cell phones & service. As a result, just over half of the population has a cell phone. Compare with most of Europe when almost everyone has a cell phone.
The previous Liberal government fucked up big time when they allowed two big mergers (BC Tel with Telus, and Rogers with Fido), reducing the number of large providers from 5 to 3. Not surprisingly, prices went up quite a bit post-merger.
Canadian cell phone companies will whine and claim their costs are higher because Canada is such a large country with a small population. While that is true, the vast majority of the Canadian land mass has no cell phone service. The carriers are not incurring costs to provide service to areas of low population, they only provide service to cities & towns with sufficient population. As an example, Rogers (the only GSM carrier) provides service to about 2% of the land area of the province of Saskatchewan.
Canada's laws prohibit a foreign firm from operating a cell phone network. It's time to revisit this.
So even if you fork out the full price for an unlocked iPhone you can still only use it on AT&T anyways? Absurd! With all of iPhone/Apple/AT&T restrictions it's amazing that people are still flocking in masses to buy the gadget. SHEEP!
Jessica
Can't say I wouldn't laugh, either - entering into an agreement with every intention of breaking it, and being willing to file a fraudulent police report just to save yourself some money? What a world class fucking citizen you are.
But in Australia, Apple fans are used to being bent over by Apple:
Blame it on shipping? No. Shipping from Asia to Australia is cheaper than to the US. Tariffs and taxes? Fifty per cent tariffs on this stuff? I think not. Apple just is quite happy to gouge the holy hell out of anything it can.
It's a law that needs to be named...something akin to Murphey's law for technological restrictions.
Anything technological measure that artificially restricts the usage of a given item can and will be circumvented in under a month.
So if you buy the no-contract iPhone, they will be compelled to unlock it for you. It's just that they in this case does not refer to AT&T, it refers to iPhone hackers.
"This option" can refer to the entire "Cancellations/Early Termination Fee" clause rather than just the preceding "three day" sentence, and likely does.
Here's your sig.