AT&T wireless

they'll give you a $25 credit per line if you "rent" it through them.

if you buy your phone outright, they charge the 40 bucks. If you do their monthly plan, they give you a $25 credit per line.

need more info


were you on an ATT next plan temporarily?


the extra 25 bucks is to essentially make you pay for the phone over the 2 year period, along with your 199 or whatever down payment

its not worded that way but its basically what you are doing



now, if you're on a Next plan, the line charge would only be 15 bucks on qualifying plans, but you'd also have to be a monthly note for the phone you are buying

both plans in most cases come out very similarly, but the Next plans allow more freedom upgrade sooner and some other perks

carriers are moving away from contracts and subsidized phones which I feel is actually a good thing for customers

quote:

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so my wife just upgraded to the iphone 6 and they are saying that we now have to pay a $40 line charge,it use to be only $15.

my upgrade is next month and same will happen for me.

WTF- that's $50 in fees on top of the monthly plan. what am I missing here?

do all carriers charge this?

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Were you previously doing subsidized phones, and an ATT rep put you on the Next plan without your permission?

Did you buy a shiny new iPhone 6 from AT&T Wireless? You might want to check your next monthly bill for an increased charge.

Some AT&T customers upgrading to the iPhone 6 received a surprising text alert this morning saying the carrier has hiked the monthly “smartphone access charge” to $40 for anyone renewing a two-year Mobile Share Value plan agreement. Naturally, the carrier waited until it was swamped with an unprecedented amount of iPhone 6 pre-orders before telling customers they’d be paying an extra $600 over two years — nearly enough to buy an unlocked iPhone 6 outright.






AT&T says certain users are “no longer eligible for the discounted pricing” that reduced the $40 monthly access charge down to $15 or $25, depending upon when they signed up.

The increased charge applies to people who buy a discounted phone under the traditional pricing structure, where the carrier recoups the purchase price over the course of the two-year contract. Those who buy a new phone at full price or opt into AT&T Next — which charges subscribers an extra monthly fee but lets them upgrade to a new device each year — can still get the discounted access charge.

Customers who noticed the increased fee are not happy, as can be seen by angry reactions on Twitter:



During previous iPhone launches, when AT&T customers renewed a two-year agreement they received the iPhone at a discounted price, with the carrier recouping the costs over the course of the contract. Now AT&T charges users between $15 and $25 extra per month as part of the access fee if they choose a new two-year plan. That’s on top of the $40 upgrade fee you also pay when you buy your iPhone 6.

It’s all part of the changing landscape of the mobile industry, where T-Mobile’s innovative pricing is shaking things up and forcing bigger players like AT&T and Verizon Wireless to evolve. AT&T appears to be using the popularity of the iPhone to help push customers toward its AT&T Next offering.

Read more at LINK

I had a $40 upgrade fee...........its a one time fee though.

If you sign a two year contract, then yes, you will get charged $40 a month.

I signed and additional 2yr contract paid the $199 for my iPhone 6 and a one time $40 upgrade fee that will be on my next bill. After that my bill goes back to exactly what it was before.

Same thing basically as switching to "Next"

You keep the discount but pay for the phone outright. Only difference is you get free financing so you don't have to front 649

even with next, our price goes up, it goes up to 40 then we get a 15 dollar a month discount per line

but if you do the next program, you pay more for the phone than buying out right