[liscio]

It's hard for any company to try and work against the carrier-subsidized pricing of handsets. As long as carriers are supplying the access, this will continue to be the case.

To pay $500 for a phone, versus the $100 subsidized price, is a silly move—especially if you're planning to upgrade every 2-3 years.

I say this because the service from the carriers still costs the same regardless of how you obtained the handset, and in some cases you may be paying even _more_ for service if you don't have a contract.

(Of course, I'm speaking with the US/Canadian carriers in mind. I know things are better outside of North America.)

[orangecat]

I say this because the service from the carriers still costs the same regardless of how you obtained the handset

T-Mobile's non-contract plans are $20 less per month, so over 2 years you save $480.

[liscio]

Are all the features accessible in non-contract plans?

I've got a few contract-only perks here in Canada on Rogers, such as the 6GB data plan add-on for $30/mo, and an "Employee Purchase Program" discounted voice service at $17/mo.

I don't think you can get non-contract data plans for under $30, and that only buys you 250MB/month, and voice plans start at around $25-30/month.

I may be able to set up a similarly-priced plan up here, but I would lose out on many of the important features (tethering, visual voice mail, larger data caps, free evening/weekend calling, etc.)