[joebadmo]

I would agree with you if all the carriers offered transparent plans that charge you just the monthly plan amount without the phone subsidy if you bring your own phone. Only T-Mobile does at the moment. As it is, I can bring my own unlocked phone, but I'll still get charged the subsidy.

[fpgeek]

AT&T just announced their own lineup of no-subsidy plans as well: http://www.zdnet.com/at-and-t-announces-new-mobile-share-val...

To me, this just underlines how the GSM carriers are playing in a very different field than the CDMA carriers (especially after the T-Mobile refarm added 1900 MHz HSPA+ to their network and since new AT&T and T-Mobile phones both support LTE band 4).

[mikestew]

I think that's a fair argument, and one of the reasons I switched to T-Mobile. With AT&T, et. al., if you don't get a new phone in the same month that your contract ends you're getting screwed on your next bill.