[Irish2dabone]

bottom line is you may have to start out with AT&T, whether for a yr or less until you "unlock" your iPhone in finding another carrier. The kicker will be the data plan with the other carrier... how much per month?
With AT&T, they have increased their unlimited data plan to subsidize Steve's "affordable" 3G... their plan has jumped $15 more per month, going from last years $20 to now $35... for a yr that comes to $420 or if you were to stay on for 24 months, $840. By the way, AT&T eliminated their 200-min of txt msg'g as part of last yr's $20.month charge. You are now paying an additional $5/month. So, $400 for your 3G plus either $420 or $840 for unlimited data access for 12-months or 24 months, bringing your cost to $820 for the first yr or $1,640 for 24-months on AT&T unless you know of a wireless provider with a lower monthly data plan... ? Which of course you must know of, otherwise you wouldn't consider shelling out $400 for the 3G?

So if you end up paying $400 for your new 3G so you are not locked-into AT&T, you may still find yourself on an unlimited data plan of an additional $20 - $40 per month, on top of your voice plan to use their service? So let's do the math... $400 before taxes and activation fees to join a new carrier, then lets go low end of a $30/mo data plan for a year (12 x $30 = $360), plus the $400 for the phone, which comes to $760 for the first year (I am assuming you are considering on buying the 8Gig 3G?) I am hearing higher price for such a 16Gig purchase... good luck!

[drall]

2 Questions:

1) I have seen no literature or ATT published information that the GPS capabilities will cost $10/month. Anyone else?

2) Say I activate a used 1st gen iphone prior to July 11th and meanwhile I'm still under AT&T contract which expires soon. By activating the 1st gen iphone prior to July 11 allow me to purchase the 16GB 3G iphone for $299 w/out have to pay the $200 early upgrade fee??

Good questions???

dtr

[Adammiller]

So does that mean you can buy a 3G iPhone and activate it with the old $20 Unlimited Data plan and just not use the 3G network... that would be quite convent since At&t's 3G coverage still SUCKS!

[Irish2dabone]

Only sharing what the AT&T rep told me yesterday... one thing is for sure, GPS subscription will cost more as it would for a subscription if you had a windshield GPS as well

[Irish2dabone]

drall,

Not being an AT&T customer can't answer your 2nd question around signing up the non-3G phone. The way the AT&T salesperson positioned it with me is that if you are under an existing iPhone contract for 2-yr's, your $20 per month plan should stay in tact until it runs out. If your contract is up, or a new AT&T customer looking to buy the 3G and you are facing a new two-yr contract, you will pay the new $30/mo data plan. The 200 txt msg's that once accompanied last yr's plan at no additional chg will now cost you an extra $5 a month.

Great question if your AT&T contract is up on your iPhone, but with the iPhone only being out a year now, and a two yr contract was mandatory, you should still be protected unless you buy the 3G? If anything, if like Verizon, you would have to extend your contract another 2-yr's if there isn't a clause prohibiting you from doing so without paying retail for the 3G? I believe either way they got you (us).

[Irish2dabone]

depends on how much you travel, business or otherwise if paying $10 more for 3G on whether you will ever benefit from 3G... comes down to the cost of doing business with AT&T and owning an iPhone. Good news for those still on their original 2-yr contract, they can go to another phone and not worry about paying the premium for owning an iPhone. When your contract is up, you will pay the new $30 per month rate regardless... just won't be tied to another contract unless you buy a new AT&T phone...

[Irish2dabone]

My understanding from the AT&T sales rep was that regardless which iPhone you own, the new DATA PLAN rate will be $30 per month.

[Ronald_Schoedel]

dcpics said:

If you think you are never going to use the 3G then why not get a curren iPhone or buy one used and put it on AT&T and then upgrade to the 2.0 firmware?

You get the applications and should still get the Edge plan rates.

I had actually thought about that, but in the end: I really want GPS, and I really need more than 8 GB on my iPhone. That (the storage) was the primary reason I did not get an iPhone earlier. 16 GB is the minimum I can settle for, and truth be told, I'd rather they have a 32 GB iPhone.

Otherwise, for someone else in the same 3G-less boat as I am in, this is a really good solution (except that 1st generation iPhones, new in the box, are hard to come by right now....so if you don't mind used, it would be a solution).

[aralim_1]

TheBum said:

I'll ask this again: What about corporate employee discounts for those of us fortunate enough to have them available?

The plan with the old iPhone was ineligible for those discounts, but since the new iPhone is subsidized, shouldn't discounts be treated the same way they are for other subsidized phones, i.e. actually honored?

Good news, Bum. I spoke with an online support rep last week via my company's preferred access / corporate discount members' web site, and she confirmed that the new iPhone is eligible for corporate discounts on the service plans. I then re-confirmed this with a sales rep at my local AT&T store yesterday.

Also, just as an FYI, there was a loophole in that "no corporate discounts for first-gen iPhones" rule -- if you had a family plan, you could get the discount as long as the iPhone wasn't the primary number on the account. I know a few people at work who were specifically told that by AT&T and were able to get their discount back that way.

Hope that helps you out!

- Joe -

[Apoc112]

Still wondering about those of us who have signed with ATT in the last 30 days. According to the website, I'm not eligible for an upgrade (obviously), but I was told at the time that I signed up that as long as it was within my 30 days, I could upgrade at the 199/299 cost.
I have a note on my account to that effect, but now that the policy has become official, I wonder if I can hold them to that. And what about those without such notes who are within the 30 days?

[sundoggy]

You guys who think they are charging $10/month for GPS are a little "lost." No where does it say that. In fact, ATT can't charge you for using GPS. They don't own GPS. GPS is a satellite system (military actually) owned by the US Dept of Defense and was declared a public utility basically by the US government many years ago. Free to use. For everyone. ATT cannot even control whether you receive signals or not (they technically may be able to do this, but they do not provide the service, GPS is not a subscription service). You may pay a subscription for traffic reports integrated into your car's auto GPS system, or some other data, but the GPS data is free, as in BEER. If anyone is paying for GPS, then they are getting ripped off big time.

[louielu12]

sundoggy said:

You guys who think they are charging $10/month for GPS are a little "lost." No where does it say that. In fact, ATT can't charge you for using GPS. They don't own GPS. GPS is a satellite system (military actually) owned by the US Dept of Defense and was declared a public utility basically by the US government many years ago. Free to use. For everyone. ATT cannot even control whether you receive signals or not (they technically may be able to do this, but they do not provide the service, GPS is not a subscription service). You may pay a subscription for traffic reports integrated into your car's auto GPS system, or some other data, but the GPS data is free, as in BEER. If anyone is paying for GPS, then they are getting ripped off big time.

Thank you for clearing that up for the "lost" people. Honestly, I wouldn't buy an something even as revolutionary as the iPhone if I was forced to pay for a feature (monthly) that I will hardly use. If you don't pay monthly for GPS in your car, there is no reason you would have to for your phone.

[kevincamera]

If you knew a new iPhone was coming as it was on the NET for the last 6 months, Why did you get a subsidize phone from ATT. You should of just got any GMS phone on ebay for less than 20.00. I had a offer of 400.00 for my iphone ( paid apple 349.00 ) last month so I just got a used E62 for 50.00 with free S&H to use. will sell the E62 after 7/11 and my net cost should be under 20.00. Check with ATT to see if you can pay the extra cost on your phone if it was not an expensive smartphone. It may be under the 200.00 that ATT whats to add to your new 3G. They may even wave to cost to get you on a 3G plan, unless you did something stupid as getting a BlackJack or Q then you SOL. I had a Treo 650 that I got Free with rebate in 2006 then sold for 195.00 on ebay when I got my 1st iPhone. I was able to upgrade by May 2008 so my 16GB will be less than what I paid for my 8GB just sold.

[LarryMcJ]

Maybe I'm in a unique situation, but I can't find an answer for my question. I moved to AT&T in February and purchased an 8GB iPhone for $399. Last month I just got tired of using the iPhone on the slow 3G network so sold it and started using an old Cingular RAZR someone gave me. Now I obviously want to go back to the iPhone 3G but don't know if I can for the lower pricing.
Apple clearly states that "anyone who signed up with an iPhone plan prior to July 11, 2008 will be able to purchase the iPhone 3G for $199/299. But AT&T customer support told me they were not sure...but they thought I'd have to wait till the end of my 2-yr contract to get the iPhone 3G for the lower pricing.
This makes no sense as I signed up on an iPhone plan and switched to a phone that was not a subsidized phone. Yes, my original contract does bind me to the 2yrs, and I'm not worried about that, or the fact I'll have to begin another 2yr contract if I buy the iPhone 3G. But according to what Apple is saying, I should be eligible for the iPhone 3g for $199/299. Any thoughts or clarifications?
Larry