Nobody’s perfect, not even for a giant mobile wireless carrier like AT&T. Some of its customers are satisfied with what they got, but some may have grudge to continue the painful experience they once had with it. And these guys don’t want the wireless service anymore but dying to get their hands on the shiny new iPhone 3G.Now, you don’t hear this one from me. But I heard it from the famous Gizmodo blog post, saying that it’s actually cheaper to buy a cancelled contracted AT&T’s iPhone plan than buying the unlocked version!
How’s that possible, you must be asking like crazy right? So do I, but it seems the math is very simple; just take a look at these:
- $299 price tag is for 16GB iPhone with contract
- $36 for the activation
- $175 for the Early Termination Fee
- $70 for one month of service
So after busting out the calculators and with help from Quad-core processor computers, here are the final math:
8GB iPhone Canceled: $480- 16GB iPhone Canceled: $580
- 8GB iPhone Unlocked from AT&T: $599
- 16GB iPhone Unlocked from AT&T: $699
Yowza! I don’t think AT&T has thought of this hole in their plans for the new iPhone 3G, maybe they’ll change it after the initial release date on July 11th tomorrow.
And never forget the sacred question & answer about buying the contracted iPhone and then activate it on another country, like this one below:
Q: If I buy an iPhone 3G in one country, can we then terminate the contract and reactivate in in another country with a local carrier?
A: If you buy an iPhone 3G, no one will stop you from canceling the service and paying an early termination fee to AT&T. Yet it's unlikely that you'll be able to take the same phone to another country and reactivate there. If you were successful in unlocking it from AT&T, it would certainly be possible to use it abroad, but good luck on finding an operator what would be willing to give you service. Personally, I'm not optimistic that a carrier in any iPhone 3G country would activate a former AT&T handset, particularly when they can sell you one of their own. Of course, you could buy a prepaid SIM card, but not all carriers may support prepaid iPhone service (for example, AT&T won't). And don't forget that while all iPhone 3Gs around the world will have the same specifications, handsets will be "branded" for their country of use. In short, you could make this work but you'll spend a lot of time and money making it happen. Even if you buy a non-contract iPhone 3G from AT&T, you'll be spending a lot of money up front. Why not just buy the iPhone in your chosen country?
I don’t about you guys, but if one of you are just around the corner of Apple Store; then please lend me a hand and get one for me? ;-D
Sources are from:
[blogged with my Treo 750v]
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