I'm quite confused about how AT&T NEXT is better for my case. To clarify, I am NOT on this new mobile share data plan. I am on a traditional plan as follows:
Line 1 : Iphone 5s/Unlimited Data Grandfathered
Line 2 : Iphone 4s/2GB Data Grandfathered
700 Minutes Shared
Unlimited Text Shared
I pay $155/month
The old way :
If I were to upgrade both of my phones to iphone 6 with a 2 year contract, my absolute total out of pocket costs in 2 years (at which point I own the phones) would be : 155 * 24 + 300 (phone1) + 300 (phone2) + 40 (activation) + 40 (activation) = $4,400.
The new AT&T Next Way :
If I were to upgrade both of my phones to iphone 6 with AT&T Next, my absolute total out of pocket costs in 2 years (at which point I own the phones) would be : (130 + 25 +25) * 30 = $5,400.
The difference is a whopping $1,000 and I am stuck with AT&T NEXT. Next time my upgrade comes, I always have to pay this monthly NEXT fee, if I were to get a 2 year contract, then my monthly bill becomes $50/month more ($25/line discount lost).
Remember in my case I am in the grandfathered phone plan. I am not in this new mobile share data plan. So maybe in my case it makes no sense to use AT&T NEXT? Am I missing anything here?
To me, it looks like this new mobile shared data plan thing that AT&T came up with a year ago was pretty much to set the stage for their next move, AT&T Next. Everyone jumped to the new plan getting all excited where they saved some money in the short term. But now they are all tied to AT&T Next and pay a lot more money in the long term.