There was quite a bit of outrage when AT&T decided to jack its early upgrade fee for smartphones all the way to $200. Things have gotten worse, though, as the carrier has also increased the full retail prices of some of their handsets to match up with the new fees. Not all of AT&T's no-contract prices have gone up (the Samsung Captivate is still $499.99), but there are still quite a few devices that are around $100 or $150 more expensive now. Some of the affected handsets include:
This move definitely stings for those of us that prefer to avoid contracts, especially since it was only done to make customers that want to upgrade stay in contract rather than pay the same amount and go contract-free. After T-Mobile introduced their Even More Plus plans for off-contract fans, I was hoping that more carriers would follow T-Mo and become more off-contract friendly. Unfortunately, AT&T seems to be moving in the opposite direction. So, what do you all think? Anyone plan on picking up a $350 contract-free Backflip?
Via Engadget
