From Andrew Davis at Mobile Optimized. The ideas I'll lay out work equally well for your Treo, cellphone, and even your *other* smartphone (assuming you're cursed with a Windows-based device). I have some friends and inside contacts at the business side of Cingular (AT&T Wireless) and Verizon. Let's just say there's a lot the cellular companies don't want you to know. Hopefully I'm not burning any bridges...
Okay, so you're at your local cellular retail establishment and you're eyeing the new Treo 650. Despite having read that 3 people (that's 3 out of a million plus) are suing Palm over the Treo, you know its an excellent device and covet one for yourself. But you don't want to drop $500 to $600 for the device, only to have it obsoleted by the next Treo three to six months later. Further, you've read PalmAddicts long enough to know that we see a new Treo almost every year. Its September and rumors abound about a new Treo. Why should you pay for a new Treo now when a new one is probably around the corner? The answer is an investment. The absolute, #1 thing cellular companies *DON'T* want to do is lose your business. Until recently, there was no number portability and thus if you didn't want to get a new cellular number, you were forced to stick with your particular carrier. The fact that not all phones work on all networks (a Cingular phone won't work on the Verizon network) made it even more challenging. Add locked phones to the equation, and most cellular providers had you all but locked in if you valued your phone number. This is why they all fought cellular number portability so strenuously. But times have changed, laws have been passed, and now your cellular number is portable to most any carrier. While this doesn't resolve locked phones or network incompatibility, it does open up possibilities... a Verizon phone can be used on the Sprint network. A Cingular phone will work on the T-Mobile network. In other words, cellular number portability gives you, the consumer, leverage. The cellular companies know this and will do most anything to not lose your business.
So here's how it works... walk into your local cellular establishment (note: real store, not a kiosk at the mall where the vendor resells service from everyone. You need to be in a Verizon, Sprint, Cingular, store, etc). You look at the beautiful Treo 650 and you suddenly are struck with smartphone envy. You see the price listed as only $299.00. But the fine print says that's with A) new service and B) a two year contract. So, what if you already have service with them? What's the advantage of a two year contract?
The key to everything is timing. For one, all US-based cellular providers are allowed to offer discounts and advantages starting 90 days before your contract expires. For another, that two year contract might save you $100 in the short run, but it can cost you in the long run. If you get that two year contract for $299.00, the cellular provider has you locked in and won't even talk about discounted upgrades for 18 months. In contrast, if you get the one year contract for $399.00, you are elligible for "business retainment" upgrades after only 9 months. The other thing to consider is the cost of the device you buy. Cellular providers base their upgrades on the non-discounted price of the phone you originally bought. In other words, if you buy the cheapy, $99.00-before-new-service-discounts phone, then when its time to upgrade they credit you for another $99.00 cheapy phone. But if you buy the $600.00 smartphone, then they credit you for a new phone of similar value. Related to timing, you never want to buy the new phone as soon as its available. You always want to wait for one or two months. Just look at the RAZR... Cingular was selling it for $400 at one time. Now its free with two years of new service.
So, you get yourself a new Treo 650 with only a one year contract. Yes, you pay slightly more for it, but there'll be a payoff in the long run. You use it, you fall in love with it, and you start frequenting PalmAddicts on a daily basis. In November the new Treo hits the market, but once again Sprint has a 90 day exclusive, and you didn't go with Sprint. Come February other carriers get the new Treo and the unlocked GSM version comes out. By now, the device has been on the market long enough for you to know about bugs and defects (such as the NVFS issue that plagued the 650) and for patches to be released. By now five or six months have elapsed since you bought your 650. So you patiently wait until the nine month mark. You go back to your cellular providers retail establishment and tell them you want to upgrade. Now don't be dismayed when they initially say they can only give you $50 off and you're looking at $500 for your new Treo. No problem, just say something to the effect of "that's fine... my number can be used with any carrier, so I'll just get one with new service discounts at such-and-such carrier in three months when my contract is up". Around this time they'll start to bend over backwards for you. This is when they'll offer you all sorts of nice discounts, but only *if* you renew your contract. So, you renew for another year and you get your new Treo for only another $300.00 again. Believe me, $300 now and $300 in nine months is a lot better than $600 now and $600 a few months later. And its also better than having to wait for a two year contract to expire.
The above has worked for me for years with Verizon & AT&T Wireless (Cingular). It is, in fact, the only reason I don't have an unlocked device... there's no carrier upgrade options for unlocked phones. As an example, about 7 years ago I bought the ultra small "Vader phone" from Motorola and sold by Verizon. The phone was $550 retail and $450 with a one year contract. I bought it for $450.00. Nine months later I renewed for another year and was upgraded for $200 out of pocket to an equivalent phone that cost $550 new. I repeated this process every nine months. I presently have the V710 which was $499 when it first came out. My nine months is up in two months and I'll likely upgrade to the CDMA RAZR when its available. I did something similar with my CEO's Treo. I ordered him a Treo 600 through AT&T Wireless in September of last year. This last June, I called, asked for an upgrade and renewed his contract for another year. We initially paid around $400 for the 600. We only paid $300 for the 650 when we renewed and they threw in a free, spare battery.
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