AT&T Tech Support 360AT&T talks iPhone 3G pricing
Update at 10:52 a.m. PDT: Information about monthly text messaging added
AT&T reaffirmed pricing for the iPhone 3G on Tuesday, noting that eligible customers can snag the new smartphone for a discount: $199 with an 8GB flash drive and $299 for 16GB.
AT&T will begin offering Apple's iPhone 3G at its retail stores beginning July 11 at 8 a.m. local time. AT&T is the exclusive iPhone carrier in the U.S.
Under the plan, the discounted price will be available to customers who have purchased any iPhone before July 11, who are activating a new customer line with AT&T, or who were eligible for an upgrade discount at the time of purchase. (Eligibility for an upgrade discount, the carrier said, is generally determined by amount of time remaining on a current contract and the payment history.)
To be eligible, customers must also sign a two-year contract. Apple had revealed the $199 and $299 pricing for the iPhone 3G at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Those who are not eligible for an upgrade discount can buy the iPhone 3G for $399 for the 8GB model or $499 for the 16GB version. Both require a two-year contract as well.
Customers who purchase the phone without a contract will pay $599 for the 8GB version or $699 for the 16GB model.
The phones will come with the iPhone 2.0 software preloaded on the devices, which includes such business-class e-mail through Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and the iPhone Software Development Kit for creating customized applications. AT&T will also offer its Yellowpages.com Mobile for iPhone on the devices.
There will be an activation fee of either $18 for existing customers eligible for an upgrade, or $36 for new customers.
AT&T is requiring customers to activate their phones in the stores, as the carrier looks to reduce the number of customers who may try to unlock, or hack, the phones to run on other carriers' networks.
AT&T is launching four voice and unlimited data plans for the iPhone 3G.
The AT&T Nation Unlimited plan will include unlimited anytime minutes for $129.99 a month, while the AT&T Nation 450 plan includes 450 anytime minutes and 5,000 night and weekend minutes for $69.99 a month.
The carrier is also offering its Nation 1350 plan, which includes 1,350 anytime minutes for $109.99 a month, and Nation 900 plan that includes 900 anytime minutes for $89.99 per month. Both of these plans include unlimited night and weekend minutes.
And for folks who engage in tons of text messaging, AT&T is charging $5 for every 200 text messages; $15 for every 1,500 messages; and $20 for unlimited text messages.
For more details on the device, see Crave's iPhone 3G FAQ.
Dawn Kawamoto covers enterprise security and financial news relating to technology for CNET News. E-mail Dawn.
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So if iPhone 3G is not available until July 11, how do you purchase it before July 11? Sounds like the $199 bottom line is a bunch of BS.
The plans weren't like this, because Steve Jobs while he was unveiling the iPhone 3G he dind't mention anything about these things, plus he said the prices will be 199 and 299 to make it more afordable for the people who couldn't afford to buy the standard iPhone.
So most probably there's sth wrong with this info...
Only time will tell.
All we can do is wait, 11th of July is in few Days.
We can authenticate all these things then.
Was it really this hard to interpret? Just read it is:
"If you bought an iPhone before, you're not going to get screwed."
"If you're not an AT&T customer, switch over and get a cheap(er) iPhone."
Oh and don't be surprised to find this is all inaccurate and subsequently revised over the coming days.
http://www.livecrunch.com
However, this is the first time I've seen the non-upgrade and no contract prices "officially" announced.
You might also be interested to know that the plans are changing... see the details here:
http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/07/01/att.iphone.3g.plans/
In short they are more expensive for the 2.0.
If you are currently an AT&T customer with the 1.0 version of the iPhone, you qualify for the lowest pricing structure but must sign a new 2 year contract.
If you are currently an AT&T customer using another type of phone and are at least 1 year into your 2 year contract, you qualify for the lowest pricing structure but must sign a new 2 year contract.
If you are currently an AT&T customer and are less than 1 year into your 2 year contract, you DO NOT qualify for the lowest pricing structure. You qualify for the mid-pricing and must sign a new 2 year contract.
All of these eligibility requirements also include good credit with AT&T. If the customer doesn't have good credit, they do not qualify for the lowest pricing structure - period.
Really? So you'll be able to get 3G and GPS on your 1st generation phone with the 2.0 software update?
Google maps on the older iPhone already give you turn-by-turn directions and works extremely-really fast over EDGE. 3G is the only true upgrade. I have lived without 3G for 12 months and I am sure I can "survive" - sure it would be handy sometimes but not all the time. And considering that I personally jump from wi-fi to wi-fi at home, the business, coffee shops, restaurants and so on the new iPhone 3G doesn't really make a difference. This time theREAL update are the applications and that is free as a software upgarde for all new and old iphones; remember that no processor upgrades have been made to the phone.
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by ed4193
July 1, 2008 11:08 AM PDT
- ok, I have studied the ATT web site and read their promotional material. The only people who would pay the extra $100 on the phone are early upgraders. However, it appears that there are some hiddden costs that were not mentioned in the original announcement. Unlike the old unlimited data plan that included 200 SMS you now have to pay an additional $5 a month to get those same 200 messages. So really the additional monthly cost is $15 assuming that you use SMS at all. (or you can pay .20 a message). Have I gotten that correct?
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