I thought I was alone in feeling that these long-term carrier smartphone contracts were exploitive, unnecessary, and abusive. Well, actually it turns out that there is a consumer-driven grassroots movement developing that feels that same way and folks seem quite prepared to begin doing something about it.
One of the first steps they are taking is to consider turning away from long-term contracts and towards more economical and affordable alternatives like prepaid plans and pay-as-you-go options.
The majority of us only sign up for these plans because we desire deals on overpriced devices that usually require new contracts in order to get those deals. These sopposed “subsidized ” phones turn out to be much more expensive than our computers or other devices over the long haul. Carriers are counting on residual monthly payments and overage charges as they lock us in to their inferior services and networks.
As if this were not enough, they are now pursuing draconian throttling schemes to resttrict and limit our use of “unlimited” bandwidth and media and rake in even more obscene profits. As if unlimited doesn’t mean unlimited. I can see consumer class-action lawsuits ahead.
Everytime there is a jump in capacity or some new capibilty we are steadily urged to step up to get the latest device or latest buzzword (4G, LTE, HSPI) Guess what? You’ll need to sign up for a new 2-year contract.
I think that users have had it with this situation, I know I have. Surely there must be a better way.
Options:
- Buy a no-contract device
- Go with Pre-paid
- Go with Pay-as-you-go
- Buy an unlocked aftermarket device
- Go back to old school landline phones and access
I will add to this article/post in the next few days after I do more research but I needed to spit this out and get it out of my system because I am feeling exploited and am looking for some way to vent and do something about it. TCF Readers, if there is a movement building around this please sign me up for that!