Does AT&T have 2 year contracts anymore?
Before, AT&T offered 2-year contract deals that made customers agree to lock themselves in for that period to get the option of receiving a new phone at a cheaper price. But then in January 2016, AT&T decided to stop 2-year contract offerings and instead offer month-to-month installment plans for phones. Therefore, answering the initial question, as of 2016, AT&T no longer provides standard two-year service contracts.
Some of the reasons for the change included competitive pressure from other carriers who had also begun dropping the 2-year contracts. This is not unique to AT&T as the wireless industry in general has been moving in a direction of making programs and plans easier to understand for the consumer.
How does the new system proposed by AT&T operate? AT&T Internet on the other hand offers customers a chance to spread the cost of a new smartphone over 30 months in equal monthly installments. You are then left with a separate wireless service plan that you still pay for every month on the same basis with no contractual obligations. That means you are separating the true price of the services you want from the price you pay for your wireless device.
This gives customers more options and flexibility in several ways:
- That way you have more flexibility to change your phone and upgrade it as often as you wish once your phone is paid off rather than waiting for a year or two with a contract cellphone.
- You have more providers to choose from month-to-month instead of canceling your contract early and having to pay high cancellation fees if you wish to do so before two years.
- You understand clearly to the extent you are willing to part with your money for the wireless plan as compared to repaying for the device individually
The last of those is a large one – under the old subsidized contract system, you did not truly know how much of your monthly bill was for the wireless plan and how much was for your device subsidy. By unbundling the costs, AT&T is providing much more pricing clarity than before.
Well technically there are no longer defined two-year contracts with AT&T but it means that if you want to pay off a device over 24-month installments then you can do so. However, what is even more important is that not only the wireless service is not exclusive to AT&T during those 2 years, that is you can end the contract, or switch services at any time with 30 days prior notice and no extra cost fees. But if you desire to upgrade your device again before paying off the current device in installments, you can only do so by paying the cash balance required at that moment so that you can be eligible for the new upgrade.
To some extent, this system of month-to-month wireless internet service plus installment payments on devices separately gives customers the most desirable of both worlds – you can pay for your phone in installments without having to pay for everything upfront, but on the other hand, you are not bound to a long term service contract anymore.
conclusion
So in standard 2-year contracts with early termination fees and service commitments are no longer present at AT&T. Rather you can make monthly payments to clear your phone while using ATT’s network service every month which you have the freedom to cancel or change any time you wish to do so. This opens up more consumer choices and options in the dynamic wireless industry.
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