With the rate at which smartphone technology is progressing, your smartphone probably started to feel a bit dated only a few months after you bought it. Never mind the fact that it is still an extremely powerful mobile device with more processing power and RAM than your first computer, we know the pull towards the new, shiny, more powerful devices can be quite strong. All of this makes AT&T's latest decision all the more depressing. The company has announced that it will be upping the wait time that customers must endure before they are entitled to an upgrade.
Back in April, Verizon announced that come January 2014, customers would only be entitled to an upgrade after they had fulfilled their 24-month contract. Previously, customers could upgrade after 20 months of their two-year contract. Now it looks like AT&T is making the same move. The company today revealed its revised upgrade eligibility for customers on two year contracts, which includes a 24-month upgrade policy.
AT&T assures customers that they'll still be able to share upgrades with others on their account, purchase subsidized devices with two-year agreements, and trade in their phones as well as bring their own device to the carrier and buy new phones outright. Early upgrades, where customers receive a discount on new devices six months into their agreement (conditional on signing a new two-year contract), are also not affected.
AT&T's new policy covers all of its wireless products and services and applies to any customer whose agreement expires in March 2014 or later.
