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AT&T tries to defend why it shouldn't let you unlock your phone sooner (www.androidauthority.com)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/technology

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Some reasons:

prioritized traffic - if towers are congested, carrier customers get priority over prepaid customers
name brand recognition - most have heard of Verizon, T-Mobile, or AT&T, few have heard of Tell, Ting, or RedPocket
financing - you can get "free" upgrades from bigger carriers, whereas I pay cash w/ my prepaid service
features - most big carriers support roaming (sometimes international roaming), whereas those tend to be ala carte w/ prepaid

In short, you get a bit more hassle w/ prepaid, but you get a lot of savings. I pay <$10/month for my service (1GB data, unlimited text, 300 minutes call), and I could get unlimited everything for $25-30 (depending on prepaid carrier). I bought my phone for <$400, whereas cost is less of a concern for big carriers since they often offer financing issues. I hate monthly payments, so I prefer to buy devices in cash and keep my monthly service payments low.

[–] Cort 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Plus the bills are paid up front. No collections department, or write-offs. Plus you get to earn interest if the customer pre pays multiple months or a year in advance.