re: AT&T is a joke

First, read these two threads:

Thread 1

Thread 2


Now, you really want to get into the math? It winds up being fairly close in the end

quote:

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Here's the math. Note this excludes taxes and fees (usually about $5/line on both plans, so that's a wash):

Old plan: $100 for talk and text
Lines 1-4: $10 (line charge) + $30 (3GB data) = $40/month. Pay $200 for phone + $40 upgrade fee = $240 upfront cost to upgrade each line.

Total cost/month = $100 + (40*4) = $260/month.



New plan: $100 for 15GB mobile share data. 4 lines sharing 15GB of data = 3.75 GB per line--so you get more data than previous plan.

Lines 1-4: $15/month per line.

Total cost = $100 + (15*4) = $160/month = savings of $100/month compared to old plan while nobody has upgraded.

Now for the ease of calculation, let's say 1 line upgrades to the iPhone 6 on the ATT Next 18 plan (can trade-in after 18 payments/months or you own it outright after 24 payments/months).

Upgraded line: $15 + 27.08 (cost of iPhone per month) = $42.08/month

So old plan was $40/month, new plan with upgrade is $42.08/month = difference of $2.08/month. Now that $2.08/month over the 24 months = $49.92. But you don't have to pay the $240 for phone outright + upgrade fee as before, so you're saving $190 ($240 - $49.92) over the 24 months. Plus at the end of 24 months, you can request to unlock it from the carrier and sell however you wish (trade-in, eBay, Swappa, Gazelle, etc.) just the way you have always done. And if you want to compare apples to apples, you still get the same resale value.

How is this paying more money????

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