This has been AT&T's practice for a while. The big carriers want to make huge monthly fees by charging people for the privilege to use a smartphone on their net

This has been AT&T's practice for a while. The big carriers want to make huge monthly fees by charging people for the privilege to use a smartphone on their network. You have a few alternatives: Get a GSM phone that AT&T can't recognize, i.e. one that wasn't made for AT&T. Alternatively you could switch to one of the prepaid carriers that allow smartphones at no extra fee. These options may not last forever though. (I discuss a couple of prepaid options here: http://www.zappable.com/2012/07/smartphones-for-cheap-ii/ http://www.zappable.com/2012/07/smartphones-for-cheap-ii/ )