Wanted to keep up with the tech and stop using old phones? I dont know about you but i have always wanted to own the coolest gadget with the most amazing features. I know you want the same ! Heres your chance to live your dreamAT&T has
announced its new upgrade plan called "AT&T Next". The latest
program from the carrier allows you to purchase a brand new smartphone or a
tablet once every 12 months. The new device is available with no activation
fee, no down payment, no upgrade fee or any financing fees. To be eligible for
this offer you have to pay a monthly fee for 20 months and you will have the
option to trade in the device once every 12 months. After trading in your old
device, the installment cycle for your device ends and a new cycle for a period
of 20 months begin. The plan also allows you to opt out of upgrading and you
can pay out the full 20 months fee that varies based on your smartphone or tablet
model Just last week, T-Mobile dropped another bomb on the mobile phone
industry by announcing their JUMP! program, allowing consumers to upgrade twice a
year (after an initial six month wait), with no upgrade fees or contracts. Now it’s AT&T’s turn, who just
announced 'AT&T Next', their yearly device upgrade program for smartphones
or tablets. Unlike today, when you opt for the yearly upgrade using Next there
will be “no down payment, no activation fee, no upgrade fee and no financing
fees”. So how does it
work? It’s similar to the T-Mobile model in that you agree to pay a monthly
installment on the phone, which can range from $15 up to $50, depending on the
device (the Galaxy S4 is cited as an example at $32 a month). After 12
payments, users can upgrade to a new device with no down payment or they can
continue to pay off their device for another 8 months (for 20 in total). So, under AT&T Next, a Samsung Galaxy S4 can be had with no down payments for a
monthly fee of $32. If you want to upgrade to the (presumed) Galaxy S5 in a
year’s time, you have to pay at least 12 months’ worth of those payments.
That’s $384 for a year–or 60% of the normal unsubsidized cost of $640, which
you would reach after the full 20 months. In
any case, that $384 would go on top of a year’s worth of AT&T’s usual
service plans. For our comparison’s sake, let’s say you want unlimited calling
($70/month), unlimited texting ($20/month), and 3 GB of LTE data ($30/month),
since AT&T doesn’t offer unlimited data like Sprint or T-Mobile. Add those up for a year’s
time, and you get $1440. That, combined with the $384 above, means that owning
a Galaxy S4 for a year under AT&T Next costs $1824. Now, let’s move on to using a Galaxy S4 for a year under
T-Mobile’s Jump program. If you want to buy subsidized there, the S4 itself
requires a down payment of $150, plus up to 24 monthly payments of $20. Over
the course of year, that costs $390 total. Jump costs $10 per month on its own,
which is good for $120 per year. So at this point, we’re up to $510.
But T-Mobile’s biggest advantage is in its
service plans, which are much cheaper than AT&T’s. Compared to the
near-unlimited AT&T plan we used above, you can get unlimited talk and text
on T-Mobile for $50 per month, along with unlimited 4G data for another $20 per
month. That means a year’s worth of unlimited talk, text and data on T-Mobile
costs $840 on its own. Add that to the $510 above, and a year’s worth of Galaxy
S4 usage costs $1350. After doing the math, Jump looks to be the better deal.
It’s cheaper, it offers more frequent upgrades, and it also throws in device
insurance with its monthly cost. But it’s important to remember that AT&T
still has a faster and more widespread 4G LTE network than T-Mobile’s growing
infrastructure, so that higher cost isn’t all for naught. It’ll come
down to consumer preference, and location, in the end. Or you can just stick
with a regular old contract on AT&T, Sprint or Verizon. Your call. Either
way, the competition amongst the big four carriers appears to be heating up, if
only by a little bit. For those who want it, AT&T Next will be available
starting July 26. It’ll be an option for both new AT&T customers and
existing ones who are eligible for an upgrade. Will this be a hit? Does it give
consumers more freedom? We’re not too sure yet, but we like to see change in
the mobile industry and believe we’re ripe for an overhaul of current practices
The
new service, dubbed ‘AT&T Next,’ will begin nationwide on July 26th .Basically,
you’ll be able to pay an extra $375-$400 a month to have a new smartphone every
year, without having to drop $200 when you get it. The initial costs are lower,
but you don’t get to keep your smartphone if you keep upgrading it, so it’s
kind of like you’re just renting smartphones at yearly intervals.
