Back to Mobile View  Skip to Content  Counterpoint: AT&T isn't
cheating iPhone 3G customers   To a lesser extent, the same
thing is happening with iPhone 3G owners wishing to upgrade to
the 3G S for the subsidized price. A year ago, 3G owners bought
a $600 cell phone (assuming we're talking about the 8GB model)
for just shy of $200. The 2-year contract guarantees that AT&T
makes their $400 back over the length of your contract. So far,
3G owners are only about 1 year into their contract, so they've
really only paid off about half of their subsidy to AT&T.  Most
carriers would stop there, and offer no additional incentives
until you've come close to reaching the end of your contract.
AT&T is being about as generous as they can be by offering 3G
owners half of the subsidy after completing half of their
contract. Once 3G owners have fulfilled a year of their
contract, they can get the 3G S for the base price ($199) plus
half the subsidy ($200) for a grand total of $399.  Read on for
some fun cell phone contract