AT&T to raise fees for iPhone contract breakers ($325)

AP ^ | 5/21/2010 | PETER SVENSSON

[markomalley]

AT&T Inc. is raising the fees it charges buyers of the iPhone and other smart phones if they break their two-year contracts, while lowering them for "dumb" phones to better align the fees with their real costs.

Starting June 1, smart-phone buyers will have to pay $325 for breaking their contract, up from $175 currently. For buyers of regular phones, the fee is being decreased by $25 to $150.

[ncfool]

Sprint has 4G already and can offer the phone on Rev A and data on 4G. They get 69. for all you can use service and will charge 10. more for 4G.

If you have a group or business you can get up to a 20% discount per phone.

Sprint does not nickle and dime a customer.

[JaguarXKE]

AT&T sucks

Truer words were never spoken:

This Sucks

[moehoward]

Old rumor. Once the G4 iPhone is released, Verizon might get the older G3 version. By then they’ll probably have their network upgraded to G3.

[Swordmaker]

New AT&T SmartPhone contracts signed after June 1, 2010 will have a $375 fee to get out of the contract early... PING!

iPhone Ping!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[Spktyr]

No, they’re not.

What IS happening is that Verizon is finally dumping CDMA and joining the rest of the universe with 4G and LTE.

At that point, phones will then be able to compete between carriers on an even footing. The US is the only country that still uses CDMA on a wide basis, everyone else in the world (plus ATT and TMobile) uses GSM for 3G and will be going to or already has LTE for 4G.

[Spktyr]

That’s not ‘real’ 4G. It’s WiMax that they’re calling 4G.

Sprint is now looking at revising their idea of deploying WiMax and going with LTE like everyone else.

[markomalley]

If you must do ATT, just get the android phone.

Don't worry. I've had an Android phone since about 2 months after they released the G1.

[Sarajevo]

To all those who have saddled themelves with cellphones:

...and you're paying them to do it.

[markomalley]

To all those who have saddled themelves with cellphones:

Or who saddle themselves with Internet access

Or who have a real-ID compliant drivers license (RFIDs)

Or who use electricity off the grid

Or who walk or drive in public places (security cameras with facial id)

Or who use credit/debit cards

---

Anyone who thinks he has ANY privacy in this brave new world is either a recluse who has isolated himself so much that he won't read this post or (more likely) is a total idiot.

[Babu]

It’s not just AT+T, all the carriers are now charging $300+ early termination fees for smart phones.

Incorrect.

I am an Android smartphone user, and I change carriers from time to time to get the Android smartphone I want. I just this week checked with Sprint on the ETF for the new EVO high-end 4G Android smartphone with 4.3" screen, 720p video recording, HDMI out, 8mp camera w/dual LED flash + front facing camera, etc, the list of features goes on. The EVO releases June 4th, and the ETF is $200 + drops off $10 per month of service completed.

And last I checked, not very long ago, T-Mobile's smartphone ETF's are still at $200 and drop off at $5 or $10 per month.

Only Verizon and now AT&T have broken over $300.

[Terpfen]

Verizon offering the iPhone has been rumored since 2008. Fun fact: Apple first offered the iPhone to Verizon, who turned it down.

[Mom MD]

And your keys on the “non touch” phone are not a touch interface? What do you press them with (or do I want to know?)

[Terpfen]

That's nice thing #286 about Android. Being an open source OS, there are more than one hardware vendor that supports it and you can go to any carrier.

Which isn't actually much of an advantage, since it just means you've got to decide between unequal feature sets. Dirty secret about most Android phones: since Google allows extensive alteration of the core OS, updates are held hostage by carrier-manufacturer cooperation. Both have to get on the same page to issue an update, even basic security patches.

Right now, Android updates are overwhelmingly distributed not by downloading the new version to currently-in-use phones, but by sales of new phones with the updates pre-loaded. Most people actually are still using the same version of Android their phone came with.

Competition is good, but Android seems to shoot itself in the foot more often than it aims the gun at Apple.

[Terpfen]

Please, spare us your condescension. The computer you used to author that post is just as traceable as the latest mobile phone.

Privacy is still attainable in this day and age. Anonymity, however, is a much more difficult feat. Don’t confuse the two.

[Terpfen]

Verizon iPhone 4G

Sprint has 4G already

Don't get too far ahead of yourselves, guys. Verizon isn't rolling out LTE (aka 4G) for a few more months, and it'll be a very limited rollout. Sprint's rollout isn't much better.

Unless you live in New York or San Francisco, don't count on LTE being available and reliable for about another two years.

[markomalley]

First, any carrier is going to customize any feature set of any phone to work with the carrier network, not just Android

Second, any OS kernel must be customized to work with the instruction set of the phone’s CPU.

Third, I’ve gotten major OS upgrades pushed to my non rooted phone. And Android allows the user to root his phone without breaking it for those who don’t want to wait on their carrier. I understand Jobs will brick rooted iPhones.

[TheBattman]

AT&T may suck for you. No other carrier yet comes close where I live. Verizon had HORRIBLE service here. But I held out hope (as did many others) when they bought Alltel which was the closest to AT&T in coverage. But amazingly - nothing improved. That being said - I have not been to every corner of the USA with my AT&T phones. I do know that - so far- I have yet to find anywhere that I couldn't get reasonable service through AT&T that was any better served by Verizon or any other major carrier. Doesn't mean such places don't exist, just that I haven't found them yet.

One cool thing that AT&T has produced - an iPhone app that you can use if you find a dead spot or an area that calls drop (or any other issues, including data problems). It marks your GPS co-ordinates at the time of the trouble. When you get back into service, it will report that specific geographic location to AT&T.

[TheBattman]

I think you misunderstand how the system works (and yes - they do want to lock customers in to a contract). Most phones actually cost a LOT more than the price we see at a retail establishment. But most carriers subsidize the cost of the phone. If you buy a brand-new phone at the full price - you will be shocked at the cost. I remember when the Motorola Razr first came out - it was all the rage, and WITH a contract was usually somewhere north of $100. Without said contract, it was somewhere around $300. This more represents the price. But to lock you in, the carriers give you a price break by basically paying for the largest chunk of the price. Even the lower-end "free" phones actually cost the carrier $150+ each. So of course, it is in their best interest to lock you in with a contract. All phones that I know of (now) can be purchased at the "full" price without a contract.

I have even seen the same kind of deal with netbook computers. Comcast here was giving them away for signing a 24 month contract for their home internet service. You can go out and buy a comparable netbook for somewhere around $299.

Consumers have decided they want the cheapest price (at least on the surface), so the producers have taken them up on the offer - by subsidizing purchases. If people quit falling for these "low prices", then those same businesses would quit the practice. There is nothing nefarious about it. Capitalism at work, plain and simple. I doubt communists would love it - they don't like the market being driven by demand. We have a choice. Communists don't want choice.

[Sarajevo]

You two are totally confused. I just don’t like the things. I can live well enough without a cellphone, and the internet connection I’m using is routed through Kuwait (I’m not in Kuwait).