If I could understand the technical side maybe I could understand the contract side.

The group on this board can probably put me straight right away

I'm interested in upgrading my Verizon 2 yr 2 phone (his and Hers) contract service with a new phone (HTZ Rezound)

I currently use a 2 YO bare bones Samsung phone and we don't do texting. I would however be interested in surfing, scanning E-mails and GPS if its cheap enough.

I checked out its features and it fits my needs

The local sales agent said he could get me into this but I would have to upgrade my account to add and additional $30 a month.

My understanding is that once I sign a plan contract for 2 years I am committed and own the phone after that. Is that correct?

If correct when I add up 24 months at $30 more a month that comes out to $720 which is ridiculously high to use that phone.

What is causing most of this increase, the cost of the phone or some major changes in service in order to use the phone?

Is there some other way to do this? Like cutting back on the service or buying the phone outright from a vendor?

lomapaseo,

You always pay a premium with a bundled contract where you're getting a "free phone". Typically this equates to the amortised cost of the phone plus a profit margin for the carrier (typically the cost of financing the phone to you plus a bit for their coffers).

If you were looking at a Blackberry, then that's different, because the carriers do charge a Blackberry premium on their tariffs as part of some royalty kickback for RIM.

Might be worth you looking into "sim-only" plans which do what the name implies. Then go shopping separately on your own terms for a phone and buy it as capex.

Not only will you find "sim-only" line rentals are lower, but you'll normally even be able to bring down the contactual commitment to 12 months without too much penalty.

FYI according to Amazon, the list price for the HTC Rezound is $799....so that seems to equate with the amortisation you're seeing.

Yes I also noted that price on Amazon, while Best Buy was only $99 ???

What concerns me is not the product cost of the phome but the forever monthly premium to my phone bill of $30

Might be worth looking into the prepaid options. Net10, ATT and Walmart(!) do some pretty good unlimited data/text/call deals for about $50 per month.

Sure there are others but I'm with Net10, using UK unlocked iPhone 3GS.

HTC

Will try and add my 2 cents here.
USA phone contracts are a rip off compared to the rest of the world.
We get charged both ways for calls, text etc, not like most other countries.
Will tell you what i did.
I bought my non jailed I phone from abroad.
if in the USA you can find these on ebay also, just buy from good dealer with lots of recommendations on past sales.
You can get from AT&T and T mobile many pre paid plans, with sim cards.
Like for instance you pay AT&T 100 usd, the credit is good for 1 year under the go phone plan and pay by the minute. .20 cents a minute. for talking.
Don't use the phone for data unless you are connected to free wifi and you wont be charged for data coverage
Many places with free wi fi now.
There are ways to beat there system, but takes a little extra effort on the users part.

Wife and I went shopping for a US phone on our last visit, decided all the options were far too expensive for our 2 months needs.

Eventually went to the local Rite-Aid ( chain pharmacy and general store ) and got ... Phone, Sim-card, $30 pre-pay voucher, voucher for 'double-minutes' for life for every time we top-up our pre-pay account, belt holster/case, charger, Blue-tooth handsfree gadget.

All for $8.00. Total. ( on "Special" clearance Sale )

Occasionally one wins one.

On my last couple of visits to USA I was surprised at the cost and lack of value of the "deals" available at the big branded stores. So I stayed with my UK plan whilst in the USA. (Unlike Aus where I quickly found decent deals for pre-pay, a bit like Mr Speedbird's).
So for the OP's needs, I would use wi-fi on something like an ipad touch, or something cheaper, and stay with my old phone for voice calls.
Lots of free wi-fi around - although drinking Starbucks' coffee is too high a price to pay.

.
If your skin is thick enough - you don't have to buy the coffee. Many Starbucks have a window counter with bar stools, away from the main counter, and some have tables outside - or sit on a park bench across the road.

USA phone contracts are a rip off compared to the rest of the world.


Could not agree more. My HTC Wildfire cost me €49 purchase on a 24 month Vodaphone Spain €6-a-month tarif (calls and SMS under €6 included, calls and SMS in excess added on) and the month after I signed the contract I received an €89 cashback for signing up (I was so surprised I queried it, it was correct). With free wifi just about everywhere it's a bargain. I don't even use Skype as dialling 902660044 gets you into a loco VOIP anyway.

I'm on that deal and even my relatively mean 90day 450mins gives me - I think - 15cents. Still seems to go too quickly. I think the one year gives 12 cents.

There is no contract, and I can change back to my $30 / 1500mins any time I need to.

I've been spoiled for some years, having been gifted use of a family plan with no limits. Having to find my own deal was a bit of a shock. Fine in the UK, but as said above, a rip-off in the US. I thought the 450 mins in 3 months would be worth changing to, but one call from the son that is out of town cost a fortune to receive.

(local family on land-line, but even that is tricky. Darn 50 'free' calls per month limit I hadn't known about for 8 years! Over that, I was paying per call. They getcha every which-way.)


Earl also said:

How can I be sure I'm not linking up with some darn thing I don't know about? Wi-fi is off. But the 3g arrows seem busy so much of the time. An attempt to downgrade to 2g was disastrous, with, as said a while back, the guy finally telling me my phone was dead and I needed to get a new one! Motorola reset from zero, and it was okay, but what a time-consuming mess.

Would going to 2g be of benefit to people that just what to phone with their phones? My Ciqu XT with Android is such a waste of my tiring old brain.

As also said, in the UK, T-Mob switched off all my toys and the result was stunning. Even the battery lasted a week instead of a day. Now, a clue is the battery is lasting about 2 days at best. Something is going on in the background.

Ha !
You think cell phone plans in the US are a rip off ?
Try Canada !

Our $35 cellphone plan actually costs near $70
And to cap it off , thanks to the crtc I can't get a Canadian Skype in number

Or New Zealand.

Just heard that NZ Vodaphone have gobbled up a local competitor, so less competition to drive down prices.

They apparently paid some $840M for the privilege - that tells you something about their charges !

Queuing outside the roadside red box in the rain to insert my two pennies didn't seem to stunt my growth, or career.

Bah ! Humbug ! who needs them !