07-12-2008, 12:14 AM
The inflated new rate has nothing to do with 3G. It simply reflects that the cost accounting for the phone is different. For the old iPhone there was little or no subsidy. You paid the price of the phone, there was no contract to sign, and the service plan was billed pretty much independently of the phone cost. The new iPhone has a $200 lower upfront cost than the old iPhone, but it has to be locked to a 2 year contract that costs $240 more than the old one. It's pretty much a wash.
I think they've gone this direction (like all other contract phones because there was no way that AT&T could stop the unlockers from using the iPhone with T-Mobile. They had no contract they could enforce.
It seems to me that a newly activated old iPhone should still cost you only $20/month for data since it is a non-subsidized phone. I don't know for sure. It would be crazy to buy an old iPhone (at an inflated price) and then activate it on a $30/month data plan. Definitely would make more sense to go to T-Mobile if that was the case.
I think they've gone this direction (like all other contract phones because there was no way that AT&T could stop the unlockers from using the iPhone with T-Mobile. They had no contract they could enforce.
It seems to me that a newly activated old iPhone should still cost you only $20/month for data since it is a non-subsidized phone. I don't know for sure. It would be crazy to buy an old iPhone (at an inflated price) and then activate it on a $30/month data plan. Definitely would make more sense to go to T-Mobile if that was the case.