CyberAbc 290 Report post Posted June 12, 2013 AT&T yesterday announced that customers must now wait 24 months before becoming eligible to buy new phones at subsidized prices. Previously, customers could upgrade at reduced rates with the signing of a new contract 20 months after their previous phone purchase. Verizon recently switched from 20 to 24 months as well. The new 24-month policy will take effect at AT&T for contracts expiring in March 2014 or later. There is still an early upgrade option, of a sort. "Once you’ve completed six months or more of your Service Commitment, you qualify for partial discount off the full retail price when you sign a new two-year wireless agreement," AT&T said. AT&T today also announced that it is bringing push-to-talk capabilities to the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S for corporate customers, saying it's "the first time a US carrier is offering push-to-talk capabilities on iPhone." The push-to-talk capability will work over cellular or Wi-Fi and will be sold as an app directly to business customers. AT&T's push-to-talk was already available on a variety of devices including the Samsung Galaxy S III, other Samsung phones, some BlackBerrys, and a few ruggedized phones. The Associated Press noted that the walkie-talkie-like service "replicat[es] a hallmark feature of the Nextel network, which is being shut down this summer." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
