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Evo Causing ATT to Raise ETF for iPhone Contract Breakers?

Att and Verizon are trying to stop people from defecting for the EVO with the increase etf, accelerated contract upgrades and phone discounts..

Sprint has a major hit on its hands and everyone knows it, including ATT and Verizon..
 
They are doing this for the next round of Iphones to lock people in so when verizon gets it at the end of the year they don't haves massive exodus. Right now the standard etf is a joke especially considering what these advanced devices get on the secondary market.
 
Aridon said:
They are doing this for the next round of Iphones to lock people in so when verizon gets it at the end of the year they don't haves massive exodus. Right now the standard etf is a joke especially considering what these advanced devices get on the secondary market.
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What Verizon IPhone?
 
eieio said:
Att and Verizon are trying to stop people from defecting for the EVO with the increase etf, accelerated contract upgrades and phone discounts..

Sprint has a major hit on its hands and everyone knows it, including ATT and Verizon..
Click to expand...

I wonder if this is true or not. I mean honestly, how many non-geeks are frothing at the mouth over this phone? Doesn't seem like many. Certainly not the number of rabid Mac fans that were chomping at the bit when the iPhone was announced.

Practically everyone in my office has an iPhone 3G or 3GS. Approximately zero are interested in the Evo, with the obvious exception of myself. Whether that will change when I strut into the office with my fancy new phone/mini-tablet is anyone's guess.

It'll definitely be interesting to see some numbers come July either way.
 
For the last time,,,,the iPhone is staying put on at&t until the Summer of 2012. they signed a 5yr deal with Apple in the summer of 2007. As for at&t raising there etf, they are just following what Verizon is doing, I doubt it has to do with the EVO. In due time every carrier will have stiff rates to cancel a contract early when u use an expensive smartphone. it's all due to people taking advantage of the system and buying phones, then cancelling lines, then putting the phone on eBay. surely the phone companies were going to catch on sooner or later.
 
Jesse said:
Carriers are raising costs of ETFs simply because these device are expensive, and I wouldn't be surprised if more carriers follow suit. Too many people were opening up lines of service to get the subsidized price of a phone, and then they turn around and cancel the account, pay the ETF, and then sell the device on Ebay for a substantial profit (recouping the $175 and then some).
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What is stupid is that the ETF is not based on the difference between the retail price of the phone and the price you paid when you bought it. For example, if Evo is $200 on contract and $600 without contract, then ETF should be $400 initially. If you get a special additional discount, your ETF is higher. Meanwhile, the Samsung M240 flip phone is $170 retail and $20 with contract, so its ETF should only be $150. Every month of a two-year contract the ETF should drop by 1/24th (~$17 for Evo) so no matter when you quit the vendor retrieves the full retail price of the phone but you play only a small ETF if you quit late in your contract.

There is no reason the contracts could not be customized to handle per-phone, per-customer ETF fees. A bit of simple arithmetic would be clear, unambiguous and fair to all concerned.
 
Maybe someone can clarify this for me. Sprint has a sliding scale for ETFs now so you pay less for ETF the longer you are in your 2 year agreement. Sprint told me that my ETF was fixed (not sliding) because my line was created prior to that sliding ETF going into effect when I renewed my contract last time. I had added a 2nd line at that time and they told me that only the new line would have the sliding ETF because it was created/started after the new ETF policy went into effect.

Wouldn't AT&T be similar so that any new lines be under the new policy while existing ones just renewing would be under their original ETF policy?
 
They can't change your existing etf
This only affects new contacts on att and has nothing to do with the evo.
 
Yea right. I highly doubt they are really worried about a niche phone like the EVO messing with the iPhone. It mostly appeals to gadget geeks. Most people coming into work to look at it end up not pre-ordering because it's too big for them.
 
They're just following Verizon, has nothing to do with EVO. Nothing to see here people, move along. And as others have said, realistically the EVO will not affect/catch on to "mainstream" customers like the iPhone has and will continue to do. Just enjoy the phone for what it is people.
 
To clarify for folks. While there may be a 5 year exclusive AT&T contract for the iPhone I'm quite sure that it has plenty of provisions that allow for earlier terminations from either party. I'm also pretty sure that Apple was looking to excercise them this year but likely has held of for the next wave of iPhones probably to reward AT&T for the lack of a decent Android offering.
 
Either they are intimidated by the EVO orrrrrrr the more likely answer: the new iPhone is being announced June 7th.

Fanboyism is absolutely insane around here.
 
I'll be trying the EVO out and switching from AT&T. My only real concern is more about sprint coverage and less about this device.
 
My neighbor is a nut for tech stuff, but when I asked him about the evo. He said his two iphones are the best thing ever, and soooo fast and nothing can beat it. I got the feeling it would be like trying to convince a man of god that religion is just a scam to have power and money. He also said he loved his iphone cause it was so customizable???? and android only has 10k aps.. I was like thanks for the shovel... Apple fanboys are not going to leave for anything
 
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