Sick of Expensive iPhone Plans? Here's What to Do:

August 15, 2008

To have a fully functional iPhone with all the bells and whistles, AT&T will make you sign up for a two-year contract, charge a cool $30 a month for unlimited 3G data, and $39.99 a month (in the beginning) for voice — with unlimited 3G data plans for business users costing $45 a month (in addition to a voice plan). If you're fed up with increased data plans — AT&T jacked up rates from $20 to $30 — IntoMobile has some great tips for terminating your plan, in case you're one of the few who wants a plan B. Personally, I'm so obsessed with my iPhone, I'd seriously pay $100 a month. But without further ado, continue reading at your own risk!

New iPhone 3G owners can cancel their At&T contract after 30 days of service.
In order to do so, you must pay the EFT (Early Termination Fee), and pay your monthly bill.
Keep in mind that if you don't wait the 30 days, you'll have to return your handset to wherever you purchased it.
Once your phone is set free from its contract, you can find the "safest" unlocking software that there is.
When unlocked, your iPhone will become network friendly, giving you the option to switch SIM cards while traveling, etc.

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9 Comments

3 years 18 weeks

u can always get a family plan and share the plan with one of your family members who already have a phone. this ways, say u have to pay 60 dollars a month, u can actually put more than one person on that plan

twocreativenerds 4 years 40 weeks

I'm running my iPhone on TMobile, with the free crack provided by the iPhone Dev Blog team: http://blog.iphone-dev.org/ For 700 minutes and 2 lines, and two Blackberry data plans, I pay $90/mo. The family phone plan is $60/mo, and each Blackberry data plan is $20/mo, and then I got a 10% discount on my bill through Borders Rewards (a free program) because they offer a corporate discount through NextJump. I could get an unlimited texting plan for $20, and I can add additional lines for $10/each. The software crack works pretty well, although sometimes there are a few glitches here and there, but on the whole, much better than paying $90/mo just for one line through Cingular. The iPhone Dev Blog team is devoted to always providing a good crack for free, so I'm confident that my phone will continue working just fine. I have to wait a few days after each iTunes software update, so that the iPhone Dev Blog team has time to release an update.

macgirl 4 years 40 weeks

I actually pay less for my data, voice and texting than I did when I was on tmobile with my Treo. Even at the original iphone price of $599 it was cheaper than my Treo as well. I think most of the sticker shock happens with all the people that have never had a smartphone before.

ilanac13 4 years 40 weeks

see i love my iPhone and as much as i hate that i pay out my rear end for service - i think that it's worth it. i have so many functions and features that i adore that i guess it's the price i pay to be on the cutting edge of things. i have this fear that if i get the 'unlocking' program - that i'm going to screw up my phone and i waiting too long to get one to have something dumb happen.

CrazySexyCool 4 years 40 weeks

Many wireless providers have been ordered by the State of California to pay $Millions$ because the supreme court there has ruled that cell phone locking and early termination fees are unfair business practices. So many providers are currently revising these policies nation wide. Verizon was fined $21 mil and Spring-Nextel was fined $73 mil. (That is the total of fines and customer refunds actually) Personally I agree. I think it is bogus that I would have to choose AT&T as my provider just because I want to use an iPhone. I should be able to get an iPhone on any network, and UNTIL I can walk into my Verizon store and get an iPhone, I am boycotting. I have an iPod Touch which gives me all the features I would enjoy as an iPhone owner anyways, without all the headaches that seem to go along with it.

POPSUGAR Tech 4 years 40 weeks

I agree kcwebgirl; but I will say that with an iPhone, I actually text a lot less, because I email instead, and a lot of my friends have smartphones and check their email. But if I still had a lot of friends who texted me constantly, I'd be even more annoyed.

LittleRedRyan 4 years 40 weeks

My data plan doesn't include texting, which is pretty lame since text messages are like under 1kb. I think CG did the math and it works out to over a few hundred dollars a mb.

kcwebgirl 4 years 40 weeks

the thing i hate is that texting is not included in the data package. what the crap is that about? who has a data package that doesn't include texting? anyone want to comment on that?

LittleRedRyan 4 years 40 weeks

The returning the handset is pretty lame. I've heard that a great way out of a contract is to use the carriers opt out option. If you decided to terminate you have to pay a fee, if they decide to drop you there is no fee. How do you get dropped by your carrier? Most carriers no longer charge the user for roaming onto other networks, but your carrier pays for network usage on the network you've roamed to, by making lots of roaming calls your carrier will be loosing money on you and will generally send you a letter saying they are ending the contract with you. Since ATT wants the phone back this may not work for the iphone, but it's a good option if you want out of a contract.

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