Starting Jan. 8, AT&T will no longer offer a two-year contract on a cellphone.
That means device subsidies are becoming officially obsolete. The discount that comes from being locked into AT&T for two years? Gone. Instead, customers will pay for a cellphone either outright in full or on a monthly installment plan under the company’s AT&T Next program.
“Our customers are overwhelmingly choosing AT&T Next,” the company said. “Starting Jan. 8, AT&T Next will be the primary way to get a new smartphone at AT&T.”
The change, which was first disclosed in an internal AT&T memo obtained by Engadget, comes after a year of tumultuous changes in the wireless industry.
T-Mobile was the first to move away from two-year contracts, followed by AT&T when it initially unveiled its Next upgrade program. (The deal allows customers to switch to a new handset as often as every year.) Verizon was next to follow suit. And Sprint lets customers lease their phones for a monthly payment.
