ATT Next
 

ATT has just rolled out their version of TMobile's Jump where you can get a new phone every 12 months and they run out your installment agreement for 20/24 months stopping it when you trade in. Does anyone know if ATT's plan includes insurance? TMobile's does.

Don't know the answer to your question about insurance but considering that you can't sell your old phone, you have to trade it in, Next looks like a pretty poor deal for the consumer.

With Next, you are essentially paying the the subsidy twice.

According to T-Mobile people out doing the interview circuit, it does not include any insurance

"As people dig into this, they'll find it's a much better deal to go with Jump," T-Mobile's Sherrard said. He added that Jump includes insurance, which AT&T Next does not.

The more I look at it, the worse it looks. I am also unclear whether you get the subsidized price on the phone the second time around. Say I pay an iPhone 5s for $399 (64gig) using the subsidy in the fall. Next year, is the iPhone 6 going to be $399 or $999?

You get the subsidized price each time you get a new phone [along with what is still effectively a two-year contract because you renew the contract every time you take a new phone] but you don't get to sell your old phone in order to offset the additional monthly subsidy charge that AT&T assesses you.

Every subsidized [on-contract] Samsung Galaxy and iPhone I have received from At&T I have sold for more than I paid, which has also always been more than the subsidized cost of the new phone that replaces it, so even though I have had two Samsungs and three iPhones I have really only ever paid upfront for one of each and over time I end up paying nothing more for any phone other than what is rolled into my standard monthly plan rate.

With Next, you can no longer recoup that initial [and subsequent] upfront cost and you end up effectively paying twice as much for the phone.

After six years all you have really paid is your standard monthly plan rate.

With Next you pay an additional $2000 over your plan rate over the same six-year period.

Is it worth a $2000 [$30/month] surcharge just to have a new phone every year instead of every two years?

For ~$700 you could just buy an unlocked phone from the manufacturer, pay just your monthly, off-contract plan rate, and then sell your unlocked, off-contract phone [likely for about what you paid for it] anytime you want a new one and still save ~$1300.

It's been reported by press that the AT&T Next program falls far behind T-Mobile's. An AT&T iPhone 5 would cost $32.50 on top of the regular monthly service that contains the subsidy recovery fee. If the subsidy recovery is $20 a month, at the 12th month point you would have paid $630, enough to buy an iPhone 5 out right, and still have 8 payments remain. If you trade in at that time, then you have no equity to show for.

In short, AT&T Next is a pretty bum deal.

PLAN and PROGRAM
 

If you compare the plan and program together, the t-mobile offering is MUCH cheaper for two years. But, the t-mobile and service might be a sacrifice for some..

I agree T-Mobile's coverage is bad in the suburban and rural areas, but my calculation was between AT&T Next and AT&T's traditional 2 year contract.

It is nothing more than an offering. For some people it doesn't make any sense, others will be all over it. There's a reason that cell phone companies together offer dozens, if not hundreds of plans, because there are people out there who for whatever reason will jump on them.

To say one is better or worse than another really isn't a good comparison, as the target audience of each plan is probably very different.

This is basically paying the early-termination fee month by month instead of when you want to get a new phone. Silly.

QL

AT&T's Next is a pale imitation of T-Mobile's JUMP program. With the Next program you end up paying twice as much for your phone.

I disagree in this particular instance.

With Next, AT&T doesn't discount their rate plans or offer additional services like T-Mobile does, and they require you to turn your phone in to them.

The only thing that Next offers is for those on an AT&T contract the ability to get a new phone every year instead of every two years and for that option they make you pay twice as much for the phone.

This is basically AT&T acting like a rent-to-own store that charges you $750 for a $250 DVD player but they let you pay for it in smaller weekly payments.

I see only those unable or unwilling to do the basic math in a TCO calculation opting for Next.

The big difference (as have been said by others here) is the subsidy which both at&t and VZW are still charging while T-Mobile is not.

In my case I am using a Nexus 4 purchased off contract (directly from Google) and was able to negotiate a credit of $240 (the approx cost of the subsidy) in return for signing a two year contract.

Essentially I am paying close to T-Mobile's new pricing while retaining the more robust (I can not believe I am using robust and at&t in the same sentence) at&t network which in my particular case is a win win.

Dan

This is quite interesting, would you mind sharing more details of where/how/with whom you did the negotiations with?
Thank you from a fellow Nexus 4 user.

The truth is that I kind of fell into it, originally I had called into to have my DATA changed from Unlimited 3G DATA to Unlimited "4G" (really 3.5G HSPA+) DATA and during the conversation the at&t employee noticed that my account was eligible for an upgrade, in fact I have not been under contract since approximately the merger between the legacy AT&T Wireless Service and Cingular (really long story, but I have had unlocked phone for a very long time).

I said, no thanks as I had just purchased a brand new Nexus 4 directly from Google and had no interest in any of the handsets at&t was offering.

She countered with getting a new phone on contract (even a free one) and then selling that new phone on ebay or what have you and simply pocketing the change.

I said that was too much work and just wanted the DATA changed, she said well what about a bill credit? At this point, my interest was peeked and I asked about what kind of bill credit.

At first she offered $150, I did some simple math based off of T-Mobile plans at the time which were tiered those needing subsidies and those not needing subsidies. Those not needing subsidies T-Mobile basically knocked off $20 a month, I did the math, came up with $240 and said to the at&t what about $300?

She said she could not do that but what about $200, I said hmm maybe, but I would be sold with something a little higher, she put me on-hold, came back and said that her supervisor said to name a number and if he could do it, would I sign a contract for another 2 years. I said yes and offered $240, she put me on-hold (for at least 5-10 minutes), finally came back and said that her supervisor was able to authorize the $240 bill credit and she was going to process the new 2 year contract now.

In truth as I said earlier, I never imagined at&t would cough up a bill credit in lieu of a handset subsidy, but I guess it is an option, though just not a very publicized option.

Dan