re: When you upgrade your phone with AT&T (not AT&T Next)

There's an upgrade fee that is one-time only, but also a "usage" fee that is monthly. the usage fee is $15 with Next plans and $40 for contract plans. We were grandfathered in with our old phones at the $15 rate. If we had purchased our own phone or paid $200 with a 2 year contract, we would be upped to the $40 rate. The girl at Best Buy had a hard time understanding this as she tried to tell us the phone was "free".