Carrier subsidies are somewhat of a luxury in countries such as the US, UK and Australia where devices are heavily subsidized. Compared to countries such as Singapore and Malaysia where subsidies are marginal or not offered at all, it’s safe to say that US customers are spoilt for choice. Now as some of you guys might have heard, T-Mobile announced last year that they would be ending carrier subsidies and instead offer an installment plan where the full price of a device is repaid over the course of its contract. If you thought that this meant that you could always shift to carriers such as AT&T, Sprint or Verizon, you might be disappointed as AT&T and Verizon’s CEOs have stated that they are interested in the idea of installment plans.
According to AT&T’s CEO, Randall Stephenson, he was quoted as saying, “That’s something we’ve looked at on several occasions. I kind of like that idea […] It’s something we’re going to be watching.” Verizon’s CEO on the other hand did not sound as upbeat and admitted that while the idea was “very intriguing”, he was worried that customers might be turned off by the fact that they would have to eventually pay the full price of a phone on top of their monthly bills. Either way nothing has been confirmed yet so don’t worry, but what do you guys think?
