Avoid Mobile Phone Contract Shenanigans: Buy Unlocked

[tongodeon]

I dislike billing shenanigans. Just tell me what I have to pay - don't give me some crazy discount and some crazy way that it's not a discount anymore. I've felt this way about cell phone plans particularly. Fortunately there's an alternativeRight now a Google Nexus One phone costs $529.00, or $179 with a two-year contract from Tmobile. They're

Comments

[loic]

In Australia since they really started enforcing phone and number portability I think the carriers were forced to separate their phone subsidies from service contracts. So you can buy a discounted phone but it's basically like getting it on credit, paid off over your contract term. That way if you change providers you just keep paying off your phone to your original provider. They're also forced to state the total plan costs up-front in not-that-small writing. I'm not sure that I got all of the details right since this came in since I've been gone and I've only signed up for mobile service once since then.

Also, when you have real number portability prepaid becomes far more attractive.

On a tangent, I find broadband contracts almost as confusing. Even the most benevolent providers like Sonic.Net seem to hike up the price after 12 months. I wish someone would just tell me how much it's going to cost and that'll be that.

[tongodeon]

you can buy a discounted phone but it's basically like getting it on credit, paid off over your contract term

If you *don't* buy a discounted phone do you get a cheaper contract?

[loic]

You don't get a cheaper service contract, you get the same one. Since the service payments and the phone payments are different line-items in your bill your overall bill is lower.

I think that some of the providers offer an incentive to sign up for a phone and a service contract (since they'll make money off the finance charges on your phone contract) but it's not significant.

They key here is that there is transparency. You can see what you're paying for and pick and choose.

[tongodeon]

Ah, I think I understand. Everyone gets the same data service charge, but some people have a separate line item for "this is how much your phone subsidy costs you" which drives up their total. That seems even more reasonable than what I've got.

Does the bill also show you "this is how much you owe on your phone"? If you cancel your account (move out of Australia) can you just pay off whatever's left?

[flwyd]

TMobile might be okay with you switching phones but staying on your contract because I think you can just move the G1 SIM card into the Nexus One without telling them.

I was really excited that the Nexus One wouldn't be carrier-locked, but then I read up on GSM and CDMA and realized that it only brings the number of choices to 2 in the U.S.

[tongodeon]

TMobile might be okay with you switching phones but staying on your contract because I think you can just move the G1 SIM card into the Nexus One

That's actually not what happened today. I've kept my subsidized phone, but they switched it to the cheaper no-subsidy contract.

Here's what probably happened: I got the 1000 minute plan with my old Sidekick LX. When I upgraded to the Google G1 they removed the Sidekick data plan and added the G1 data plan. When the guy looked at his computer screen today he probably saw a legacy contract - one that could be changed to the cheaper no-subsidy contract - and not the higher contract that normally comes with a subsidized phone.

[bsdcat]

It's worse than you think, actually. T-Mobile and AT&T use different frequency bands for 3G, and for whatever reason - I've heard it was because of a protest to the FCC from AT&T, but I don't really know - the Nexus One only supports 3G on the frequency bands used by T-Mobile (here in the U.S.).

[flwyd]

On the plus hand, some folks have quipped that AT&T's 2G may have better performance than their iPhone-clogged 3G network, so the Nexus One might not be such a bad AT&T choice. Not that that's a stellar endorsement of anything.

[crisper]

>I have no idea why they let me do this, but I'm not arguing.

Maybe they're working on a game-plan where they can conclusively claim #1 in customer satisfaction, the kind of word-of-mouth reputation that is only going to come from, well, genuine customer satisfaction, satisfaction so high that said customers feel driven to talk about it.

[adw3345]

I was thinking of getting one of those Android phones, as a step up from my Sidekick. How do you like the G1 vs. The Nexus 1 vs. the Sidekick?

The Nexus One of course is full of shiny but I keep thinking I'll miss having a keyboard, since 99% of what I do is instant messaging and so on.

Let me know what you think of the devices themselves.

Derrick

[tongodeon]

What's a little frustrating is that right now there's no perfect Android phone that does everything I want it to. The G1 is crippled by insufficient RAM, Droid isn't GSM, the Nexus One doesn't have a keyboard, etc. The Motorola Milestone might actually be a good choice but you have to order it from Europe.

I anticipate missing the keyboard on the Nexus, but at the same time I feel willing to put up with this shortcoming in exchange for supporting what I think is a very good cause. (Open unlocked hardware, sensible month to month contract pricing.) That said, if I buy a Nexus One and something better comes out I'll be able to sell it easily since it's unlocked and I'm on a cheap no-subsidy month-to-month contract.

[waider]

Having bought unlocked for every phone I own, I can wholeheartedly agree. I got an iPhone for my SO, who is on The Irish Network That Doesn't Have iPhones Yet, and the only reason I keep hacking the damn thing is to make sure she can use it on said network. As soon as I can get a legit unlock code, I'm ditching the jailbreak crap.