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Sounds to me like Google IO got them a little scared and they don't want customers dropping their plan for another carrier that has a better selection of Androi

Sounds to me like Google IO got them a little scared and they don't want customers dropping their plan for another carrier that has a better selection of Android phones.

pkulak 16y ago
Well, it's not for existing contracts. So, it's really having the opposite effect on me. I was strongly considering leaving AT&T for Sprint or T-Mobile and getting an Android phone before this: now it's become a near certainty unless the new iPhone just absolutely blows everything else out of the water.
- sandipc 16y ago
  if they changed the ETF on your existing contract, you would have a great reason to opt out of the contract early.
  - bshep 16y ago
    Exactly, usually cellphone contracts have a clause that allows you to terminate early with no fees if the terms are changed and you do not agree with them. I've actually done this before, I don't remember the carrier but they raised texting from $0.10 to $0.15 and I called them up and said that I wanted to terminate early since I did not agree to the change in terms. I didn't really use texting, but I wanted to go to a different carrier. My guess is this is why they are not changing current contracts as that would allow people to leave even faster.
tptacek 16y ago
You seriously think AT&T can change their ETFs inside of a couple days? I don't think it's possible a company as big as AT&T could finish planning the meetings that it would take to plan contractual changes in that time period. Beware the tech-colored glasses. Most people don't care what Google does.
- smackfu 16y ago
  Yeah! AT&T will screw over their customers all by themselves.
blehn 16y ago
Or they might be anticipating an iPhone release on Verizon, in which case about half their iPhone customers would jump ship, and would probably be happy to spend $175 to do so. Edit: the article says the change doesn't apply to existing contracts, so this theory probably doesn't make sense. Edit 2: Then again, maybe ATT will have a brief exclusive on the 4G iPhone, and they want to lock those new contracts in before the phone hits Verizon. Ok, I'm going with that.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]

Sounds to me like Google IO got them a little scared and they don't want customers dropping their plan for another carrier that has a better selection of Android phones.

pkulak 16y ago

Well, it's not for existing contracts. So, it's really having the opposite effect on me. I was strongly considering leaving AT&T for Sprint or T-Mobile and getting an Android phone before this: now it's become a near certainty unless the new iPhone just absolutely blows everything else out of the water.

sandipc 16y ago
if they changed the ETF on your existing contract, you would have a great reason to opt out of the contract early.
- bshep 16y ago
  Exactly, usually cellphone contracts have a clause that allows you to terminate early with no fees if the terms are changed and you do not agree with them. I've actually done this before, I don't remember the carrier but they raised texting from $0.10 to $0.15 and I called them up and said that I wanted to terminate early since I did not agree to the change in terms. I didn't really use texting, but I wanted to go to a different carrier. My guess is this is why they are not changing current contracts as that would allow people to leave even faster.

tptacek 16y ago

You seriously think AT&T can change their ETFs inside of a couple days? I don't think it's possible a company as big as AT&T could finish planning the meetings that it would take to plan contractual changes in that time period. Beware the tech-colored glasses. Most people don't care what Google does.

smackfu 16y ago
Yeah! AT&T will screw over their customers all by themselves.

blehn 16y ago

Or they might be anticipating an iPhone release on Verizon, in which case about half their iPhone customers would jump ship, and would probably be happy to spend $175 to do so. Edit: the article says the change doesn't apply to existing contracts, so this theory probably doesn't make sense. Edit 2: Then again, maybe ATT will have a brief exclusive on the 4G iPhone, and they want to lock those new contracts in before the phone hits Verizon. Ok, I'm going with that.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]