What is the customer advantage to AT&T Next + Mobile Share Plan?

They say I can upgrade to the new iPhone 6 at no cost upfront. My monthly bill will go up around $20 per month though for the next 30 months I guess. I guess that is how you are paying for the new phone, installments over the next 30 months? Then why is it called Next 24?

I don't understand any of AT&T's new 'plans' & I feel they are not giving me as good a deal as I have had in the past.

My plan currently (and for the last 10+ years has been unlimited data, 200 text messages and 450 talk minutes with rollover for $75/month. I don't have to have the latest iPhone upgrade always right away

So they are saying that I keep my current plan, but my bill goes up $20 bucks or so with fees.

What is mobile share plan? It's $180.....for what? I don't hardly even leave the state much less the country. Is mobile share to be able to allow calls, data and text when out of the country? That is how it read on the website.

quote:

---

What is the customer advantage to AT&T Next + Mobile Share Plan?

They say I can upgrade to the new iPhone 6 at no cost upfront. My monthly bill will go up around $20 per month though for the next 30 months I guess. I guess that is how you are paying for the new phone, installments over the next 30 months? Then why is it called Next 24?

I don't understand any of AT&T's new 'plans' & I feel they are not giving me as good a deal as I have had in the past.

My plan currently (and for the last 10+ years has been unlimited data, 200 text messages and 450 talk minutes with rollover for $75/month. I don't have to have the latest iPhone upgrade always right away

So they are saying that I keep my current plan, but my bill goes up $20 bucks or so with fees.

What is mobile share plan? It's $180.....for what? I don't hardly even leave the state much less the country. Is mobile share to be able to allow calls, data and text when out of the country? That is how it read on the website.

---

Instead of paying $200ish and being in a 2 year Dell you pay your phone off I installments. They make their money by people who upgrade early, they pay the original phone still and the new one as well. You still pay the taxes on the phone, so it is $30 ish when you buy the phone. Iirc the duration of payments is variable depending on what you pick. Maybe it's $30/mo with 20 payments or something.

Mobile share let's you take 10GB (+/- the plan you choose) and use that across multiple phones. If it's just you on the plan then there's no reason to switch especially with the unlimited data.

Yes, it's only one phone on the plan.

Still skeptical of their sales pitch?

quote:

---

Yes, it's only one phone on the plan.

Still skeptical of their sales pitch?

---

The way I see it, they make the Next plan really easy to sign up for, drop the activation fees, etc. They have to be making much more on it than the old plans.

Also, you turn in your phone when upgrading (might only be with early upgrades). They encourage you to purchase their insurance at another $10/month to keep from having to pay the difference in what you've paid via installments versus the non-contract price of the phone (if you break it).

Think of it like you're paying for 3 separate things. The line, the data, and the hardware.
The line is $40 per month on a 2 year contract, and $15 on Next if you pay for 10+ GB of data. If you're getting less than 10, it's $25 per line.
The data is simple, you just pick an amount and there is a set charge for that per month.
The big difference with Next is what you pay for the actual phone itself. On a 2 year contract, you'd pay the subsidized price for the phone up front and be done with it, but your line fee would be higher. On Next, you pay a lower line fee, and pay the full cost of the phone in monthly payments. If you completely pay the phone off, you keep it, and can use it as long as you want, and your monthly bill will decrease by the amount you were paying for the phone. Or, after a certain number of months into the plan, you can trade the phone in and upgrade early. From AT&T's website, there are a number of installment plans:

quote:

---

AT&T Next 12: Divided into 20 installments; trade in and upgrade after 12 installments.
AT&T Next 18: Divided into 24 installments; trade in and upgrade after 18 installments.
AT&T Next 24: Divided into 30 installments; trade in and upgrade after 24 installments.

---

They do seem eager to move everyone to these Next plans, which made me skeptical as well. But it looks like they make their money off people who upgrade early, because they keep paying the hardware fee and then AT&T can sell a refurbished phone. The best way to do it is just look at what you're paying now and then add it all up and compare. Some people's bills will go down after switching to Next, some will go up. Just have to see what you have now and figure it out.

Consider it leasing the phone from them.

ATT/Verizon/anyone else with a similar option win big because you arent paying the $299.99 for the new iPhone, you are paying the $699.99 for the new iPhone. Even if you upgrade every 24 months, they still make more than if you just buy the phone up front.

The only thing I would caution is that you have to pay off the full remaining price of the phone if you want to combine lines with a wife/husband/parent/child/etc. At least thats the case with Verizon, they havent figured out how to transfer their Next plans yet.

quote:

---

ATT/Verizon/anyone else with a similar option win big because you arent paying the $299.99 for the new iPhone, you are paying the $699.99 for the new iPhone. Even if you upgrade every 24 months, they still make more than if you just buy the phone up front.

The only thing I would caution is that you have to pay off the full remaining price of the phone if you want to combine lines with a wife/husband/parent/child/etc. At least thats the case with Verizon, they havent figured out how to transfer their Next plans yet.

---

Not true. My wife and I are on a Verizon plan with my in-laws, and we moved to a similar plan last year because over a 2 year contract, we end up saving about $400 if we don't upgrade early. We get line discounts that are roughly equal to the monthly phone payment, so the cost isn't much different. The advantage and savings come in months 21-24 when we are no longer paying for the phone but are still getting the lower line charges ($20 or $25 per line for five lines). After month 24, we're still getting the lower rate out of contract and saving a bunch of money per month. It works out because you aren't paying higher line charges to subsidize the low upfront phone cost even after the subsidized portion of the real cost has been paid and then some. The longer we hold onto the phone, the more we save.

The only time the carriers come out better is if you upgrade early, which is what they are betting on. In that scenario, your phone payments have been more like lease payments instead of installments because they get the phone AND the money. However, once you've paid off the phone, it is yours to keep. So if you keep it for the contract length and don't upgrade, you have a paid for phone and end up with lower line charges until you choose to get a new phone.

I switched to next for the data and easy ability to add lines. However, I buy discount, used, or Nexus phones and don't do the monthly fee.

I have six phones on the plan and I evaluated several times before I switched plans. It dropped my monthly bill by 100+.

The new phone acquisition is screwy but I figured if I could avoid getting new phones for 12-18 months it would be worth it.

I'm not sure it's a good deal with one or two devices tho.

quote:

---

I have six phones on the plan and I evaluated several times before I switched plans. It dropped my monthly bill by 100+.

The new phone acquisition is screwy but I figured if I could avoid getting new phones for 12-18 months it would be worth it.

I'm not sure it's a good deal with one or two devices tho.

---

I saved about $4/month switching. My plan price dropped by $25, so with the phone and discount, and god awful fees, my price is nearly the same. Once the phone is paid off, I should see a nice discount though.

Word of advice, don't let them convince you to drop unlimited data.

Curious to hear more about why...

EMY - You don't have to turn in your phone to ATT to get the next phone. It's your option. If you craigslist it, you will get more money for the phone vs turning it in. At least for iPhones.

The reason why ATT and all carriers are pushing a NEXT line program is to get out of the subsidy business. Carriers don't like to not recognize revenue until 24 months later. They would rather have the sale and have another entity do a loan. Next essentially is an interest free loan.

With regard to which is cheaper, if you add in the upgrade fees, activation fees, and costs, I found Next to be slightly cheaper than subsidizing. It might be different for you based upon the number of lines you guys have, etc.

Finally, it depends what kind of user you are if it matters to drop the unlimited data plan. Some users will use a lot of data and it's more important to have unlimited data. The drawback is that you can't tether your phone to a laptop/iPad, etc. If you use it in moderation, the data plans are fairly reasonably priced (especially with rollover data).

I have 5 people sharing a Mobile Share value plan and it's pretty economical = $35 per phone. I can add more lines for marginally more.

I'm about to buy a new phone and maybe I didn't read the fine print on how this worked but I simply looked at the fact that Im going to pay a one time ~$200 HW + $40 upgrade fee vs monthly installments under Next plan of ~$25 for 30 months ultimately costing you $750 for the phone.

I read it as a used car sale tactic of getting the ignorant to focus on the monthly pmt instead of true cost. Is this not how it works?

Youbet - nope it's not a used car sales tactic. They are giving you an interest free loan. If you want, you can pay off the phone after a month or two. Or you can buy a phone outright and not have to do the installment plans.

With Next there is no $40 activation fee. My FAN has a $18 waiver on the upgrade fee. If you're on a FAN, you probably have a waiver too.