AT&T to charge more for early upgraders to smartphones

Andre Yoskowitz
5 Apr 2011 0:03

AT&T has confirmed today that it will be increasing its smartphone early upgrade by $50, the second time it has done so in the last 6 months.
If you somehow have a one-year contract through the carrier, the early upgrade fee is now $150 higher. The fees are only in effect if you try to upgrade to a smartphone before your contract is up.
Says the carrier (via BGR):

We've updated our early upgrade and no commitment price points for smartphones and feature phones. Only customers who are not yet upgrade eligible or who do not want to sign a contract are impacted. As mobile devices become more sophisticated, their cost goes up. This change reflects the increased costs, while still allowing us to offer customers the latest device before they qualify. We're happy to discuss individual account and upgrade needs one-on-one with customers.

Furthermore, other unconfirmed reports have AT&T raising the early upgrader fee on feature phones by $20.
Last October, AT&T pumped the fee to $200 from $75 on the same logic, "increased costs."

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