AT&T announced last night that it will renounce the conclusion of 2-year contracts for mobile phone subscriptions, renounced at the same time and to the sale of mobile phones, of any type, with a subsidy.
In practice, AT&T joins T-Mobile and Verizon and refuses to sell mobile phone subscriptions with a contract period of 2 years, but to allow the purchase of mobile phones at low prices with the subsidy included in the subscription.
Instead, those from AT&T will have mobile phone rate plans that will probably be cheaper than the existing ones or will include more benefits and will start selling mobile phones in installments for those interested, just like its big competitors in the USA are doing .
AT&T is the last major Apple partner in the US that sold subsidized mobile phones, so starting in 2016 we will no longer see iPhones advertised as being available at prices starting at $199 because there will no longer be a subsidy.
Instead, from 2016 we will see iPhone smartphones that will be promoted as being available for purchase in installments at prices starting from 25 dollars or 50 dollars depending on the period chosen for paying the installments, the change being a beneficial one for all the world.
With $0 down for well-qualified customers, the ability to upgrade early and down-payment options available with even lower monthly installments, our customers are overwhelmingly choosing AT&T Next. Starting January 8, AT&T Next will be the primary way to get a new smartphone at AT&T.
Last fall, Apple launched its own program for selling iPhones in installments, and its appearance is more than likely related to the announcement made today by AT&T, because Americans will have to buy their mobile phones in installments from now on.
The change in the US will also have effects on the European markets in at least a year, I say, so we can expect that subsidies for mobile phones will quickly disappear everywhere, they will be replaced by tariff plans for the purchase of terminals in installments .
The problem with this change is that some mobile phone operators will sell the terminals in installments equal to the standard purchase price, while others will charge interest for the installments and so in the end the customer will be the one who will lose money from the change.
What do you think about giving up subsidizing the costs of mobile phones?
