Do you not get that you can pay for big purchase phones on installment? You basically pay the same as if you were getting the phone on subsidy and you're basically on a contract to pay your installments til the device is paid off. There's no change except for the semantics of a contract. Your big advantage is that when you've paid off your device you're not continuing to "pay for the device" with a higher per month charge for your rate plan. Since your rate plan didn't pay for your phone you did. and over the long haul you'll have saved yourself several hundred dollars in the process. Question is do you want instant gratification by having the carrier pay the subsidy or do you want to make installments and pay essentially the same thing?