Premium device?

[fatclue_98]

The disadvantage of waiting is that with a traditional contract, you don't save any money while waiting. If you were paying $80/month in contract, you still pay $80/month out of contract, so in effect you're paying for a subsidy you're not taking.

The new Next plans which allow financing a device cost without interest get cheaper once the device is paid off, so waiting for a device you really like doesn't cost you more money.

I thought the whole idea of the new plans were to separate the device price from the actual plan in case you want to BYOD.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I thought the whole idea of the new plans were to separate the device price from the actual plan in case you want to BYOD.

That too.

I recently changed my plan. I had an old grandfathered unlimited data plan, but those are soft-capped at 5 GB/month anyway and don't include internet sharing (tethering). I'm out of contract and took advantage of AT&T's promotion and got 30 GB/month with internet sharing for a cheaper price than my old plan. I have no contract. If I want to add a new device, I can: pay for one in full, bring my own, or finance a new device over 24 months without interest.

 

[fatclue_98]

That too.

I recently changed my plan. I had an old grandfathered unlimited data plan, but those are soft-capped at 5 GB/month anyway and don't include internet sharing (tethering). I'm out of contract and took advantage of AT&T's promotion and got 30 GB/month with internet sharing for a cheaper price than my old plan. I have no contract. If I want to add a new device, I can: pay for one in full, bring my own, or finance a new device over 24 months without interest.

So my assumption was correct, the plan pricing is separate from the device. If you "finance" a device and pay it off in 12 or 24 months, you're only paying for the plan afterward. How does this affect upgrades? I don't understand the need to upgrade if there's nothing that tickles your fancy. Are consumers so conditioned to do an upgrade whether they need to or not? If that's the case, carriers don't get nearly the recognition they deserve for their salesmanship.

 

[Laura Knotek]

So my assumption was correct, the plan pricing is separate from the device. If you "finance" a device and pay it off in 12 or 24 months, you're only paying for the plan afterward. How does this affect upgrades? I don't understand the need to upgrade if there's nothing that tickles your fancy. Are consumers so conditioned to do an upgrade whether they need to or not? If that's the case, carriers don't get nearly the recognition they deserve for their salesmanship.

The upgrades were to the consumers benefit with the old traditional contract plans. The bills stayed the same even after the contract ended, so the consumer benefited by taking a new contract immediately in order to get value for the subsidy. This especially mattered if one chose a free device with the upgrade.



In other words, if I took a contract in 2012 and got a free or extremely cheap device on contract with subsidy and my contract ended in 2014, I'm more enticed to get another free or cheap subsidized device when I am able to get something brand new for the same cost as what I'm already paying. If I don't save money by keeping an old device, why wouldn't I opt to upgrade?

I'm not sure how many people are still using the traditional 2-year contract plans with subsidies.

 

[JamesPTao]

The upgrades were to the consumers benefit with the old traditional contract plans. The bills stayed the same even after the contract ended, so the consumer benefited by taking a new contract immediately in order to get value for the subsidy. This especially mattered if one chose a free device with the upgrade.



In other words, if I took a contract in 2012 and got a free or extremely cheap device on contract with subsidy and my contract ended in 2014, I'm more enticed to get another free or cheap subsidized device when I am able to get something brand new for the same cost as what I'm already paying. If I don't save money by keeping an old device, why wouldn't I opt to upgrade?

I'm not sure how many people are still using the traditional 2-year contract plans with subsidies.

Many are but they no longer fuction that way. In the past it was the same price for service on or off contract, but that was because the carriers knew by doing so it kept people in the update cycle and made them more money. It also discouraged customers buying unlocked phones which gave them more control to block or strip services originally in the phone. Ex. An unlocked Nokia e72 had tethering built I through Bluetooth or wifi. The at&t variant stripped it out because they wanted to charge people for a tethering plan whether you used the same amount of data or not. With the rise of pay as you go services in quality and numbers and tmobile and such at&t and Verizon could no longer continue this as consumers where starting to realize how restricted they were and how much they payed. They still don't cut much with being off contract typically $15 but now tehering is part of the plan because they have shift the focus to making their money solely on data and peripheral devices (tablets and such).

 

[Laura Knotek]

Many are but they no longer fuction that way. In the past it was the same price for service on or off contract, but that was because the carriers knew by doing so it kept people in the update cycle and made them more money. It also discouraged customers buying unlocked phones which gave them more control to block or strip services originally in the phone. Ex. An unlocked Nokia e72 had tethering built I through Bluetooth or wifi. The at&t variant stripped it out because they wanted to charge people for a tethering plan whether you used the same amount of data or not. With the rise of pay as you go services in quality and numbers and tmobile and such at&t and Verizon could no longer continue this as consumers where starting to realize how restricted they were and how much they payed. They still don't cut much with being off contract typically $15 but now tehering is part of the plan because they have shift the focus to making their money solely on data and peripheral devices (tablets and such).

Yes, they do have those plans you mentioned. I know because I have one. I recently changed from a grandfathered unlimited data plan (without tethering), 1400 shared minutes, and unlimited texting (2 devices) to a 30 GB/month shared data plan with tethering. There is no contract. I bought a feature phone outright today for the other user on my plan. Whenever I choose to upgrade my device, I'll have the choice of paying in full or financing through the Next plan (without the traditional contract and with discount on bill once device is paid off).

However, the traditional subsidized 2-year contract is still available. I'd lose my 30 GB plan at discount rate if I chose to go back to the traditional 2-year contract.

 

[JamesPTao]

I meant if you choose to stay out of contract you save $15 a month. Over two years that's $360, the cost of a 930.

 

[agentmikeyd99]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...windows-lumia-830-vs-apple-iphone-6/19837395/

What a shame.that MS has no flagship for a real comparison! Could you imagine a 1030 or 1530 instead of an 830 in this article?

Point made, thanks for coming.

 

[agentmikeyd99]

So sad...as my family of four phones walks off to Lollipop Land. Later Lumias, a flagship woulda been nice...

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2855558/what-windows-phone-needs-a-truly-fabulous-flagship-phone.html