Today AT&T announced a Next 24 plan that allows you to pay for your phone in small payments over the course of 30 months, with the option to upgrade after two years.
The new 24-month plan joins Next’s current 12 and 18-month upgrade options, which AT&T has been promoting heavily to get subscribers off traditional two-year contracts.
Next plans are designed to work kind of like leasing a phone; you pay zero-down and make small monthly payments until the phone is paid off or you’re able to swap it in for a new one.
The catch with Next is that when you’ve swapped in your phone after however many months of payments, you just paid nearly full price for a phone you don’t own anymore. AT&T gets it and keeps all of the resell value. Yay, money! You can choose to pay off your remaining balance on the phone and keep it, but AT&T is banking on the majority just doing trade-ins.
That’s why AT&T is charging customers an extra $25 per month when they renew a two-year contract. It’s also why current two-year contract holders are able to break their contract early without penalty if they switch to a Next plan.
Next 24, which will be available starting November 9th, consists of 30 monthly payments between $10 and $50, depending on the phone model. To sweeten the deal, “customers who switch to AT&T and activate a new line of service with a smartphone on AT&T Next will receive a $150 bill credit.”
You can find out more about Next plans on AT&T’s website.
Update: Corrected mistake that AT&T charges two-year contract renewals an extra $40 per month. Monthly access for phones on Mobile Share plans costs $15, and renewing a two-year contract instead of choosing Next adds an additional $25, totally $40 per month.
Alex Heath is a journalist who works for Tech Insider. He’s the former co-host of The CultCast. He has been quoted by the likes of the BBC, KRON 4 News, and books like “ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation.” He lives in Lexington, Kentucky. If you want to pitch a story, share a tip, or just get in touch, additional contact information is available on his personal site. Follow him on Twitter.
