Last of the 2 year contracts going away?

[tedsc]

I just logged into Sprint today as my wife is eligible for a new phone and to my surprise the subsidized phone model looks to be going away. So to buy a new phone now I can pay full price up front or tack on a monthly fee per phone. Keep in mind my bill for services does not decrease so it will cost me an extra $80 a month to stay with Sprint if we ever want new phones.

Am I understanding that wrong? And why the hell won't any carrier just do the tried and true 2 year contract with subsidized phones anymore? I have yet to hear anyone's bill actually decreasing once the phone is paid off so seems like the subsidized model was fantastic for consumers.

 

[Rukbat]

They used to charge you for the phone every month, but didn't tell you that part of the monthly charge was for the phone. Now they're doing the Hershey's trick - don't raise the price, make the chocolate bar smaller. They're keeping the plan price the same but making you pay for the phone separately. The US is bout the only place that subsidized phones - the rest of the world had to buy the phone outright all this time.

It's actually better for us this way - you don't have to buy only the phone the carrier sells, you can buy any phone that will work on their network (Sprint and Verizon are a little tighter than AT&T and TMO - if the phone has the right radios and isn't blacklisted you can use it on their networks.) Actually - and I only know about AT&T, since they're the only ones I've been with for the past couple of years - I save $25/month if I use my own phone, so they are still subsidizing the phone. (That's $600 over 2 years, enough to buy a nice phone or pay for most of a great phone.)

Hey, you didn't think Sprint actually was cutting your bill in half if you came from AT&T or TMO, did you?

 

[tedsc]

It's not better for us this way. I have been with Sprint for 3 contract cycles now. You are correct that the phone subsidy was never itemized on the bill, but the new plans have the exact same bill, then tack a phone payment price on top at roughly $20 a month x 4 phones so my bill will go from $200 a month to $280 a month. Their is nothing better about that.