No Contract Phone Plans: AT&T Offers ‘Next’ For Quick SmartPhone Upgrades; No Upfront Fee Unlike T-Mobile ‘Jump’

A week after T-Mobile launched its offering called 'Jump,' a competitor and the second largest network carrier in the US announced its new program offering no contract phone plans called AT&T Next.

Basically similar to the no-contract phone plans offering from T-Mobile, AT&T Next allows its smartphone buyers to procure a device using a 20-month payment plan without signing any contract and without paying for an upfront free.

However, if the buyers of AT&T's no contract phone plans decided to leave early out of the subscription plan, they would have to pay the remaining installment fees, UPI reported.

Aside from the no-contract phone plans, the customers will also have the option to upgrade their smartphone device or tablet once a year without having to pay in full.

One of the advantages of these new programs from the network carriers, according to the report is that "no-contract plans help carriers avoid the expense of subsidizing new smartphone models, which they usually try to offset by signing their customers up for long-term contracts."

These no contract phone plans will perfectly suit mobile users who frequently change and update its mobile devices. As Ars Tecnica posted, "if you like upgrading all the time and don't care to keep your old phones around once they're replaced, they might be what you're looking for."

CNET provided a detailed differentiation between the no-contract phone plans from AT&T and T-Mobile. According to the post, AT&T Next generally sounds the same with T-Mobile's no contract phone plans, but with some tweaks and twists.

One distinction is that T-Mobile Jump has upfront fee that can be as high as $150 for Samsung Galaxy S4, and also requiring a 20-dollar monthly payment on top of the service plan.

Also, T-Mobile's monthly installments will run for 24 months, while AT&T Next's installments go for 20 months. Furthermore, T-Mobile's no contract phone plans allow the customers to upgrade their phone twice a year after the 1st 6 months, costing an additional fee of $10 a month, which already includes insurance.

Aside from T-Mobile and AT&T, Verizon is also rumored to reveal its similar program for no contract phone plans, and it will be called 'Edge'.