Comments on: AT&T’s SIM-Only Offer Defies Logic

By: AT&T Sells SIMonly Service - Skydeck

AT&T Sells SIMonly Service - Skydeck — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:31:24 +0000

[...] from selling the phone on eBay and keeping the SIM. Why pay $5 to NOT get a free phone? Wired and Gizmodo ran articles on this bizarre offering, and a day later AT&T said they had made a mistake. The [...]

By: Thomas

Thomas — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:37:58 +0000

Hmm, very interesting indeed. I have worked in Africa for the past 3 and a half years. at least all the countries in West Africa I have been to are on the sim-card bus. Whenever I need recharged I buy a scratch card and activate over the phone. Heck a $20 scratch card to recharge my sim lasts me a month sometimes. I travel back to the Sates via the EU. It turns out that the EU is also on this band wagon. When I am in Africa–Liberia, Sierra-Leon, Cote de ‘vor, Ghana, there are 3 or 4 carries that have cards for sale in $5, $10, $20, $50, $100’s. When I go through the EU I change over to my BASE Sim there. You can also get Orange, or others at any convenience store on the corner. When I get home to the USA though, I use T-Mobil. I have the same T-Mobil sim for the past 3 years or more, and just recharge it when home by going to the local Mall. No service plan, and as long as I add $20 per year it never goes inactive. I have to admit though, I wish T-Mobil had as good of coverage as AT&T in my area. The upside is I can use any unlocked phone I want. It is upsetting that the USA is so far behind the rest of the world on this and so many other things. USA–When are you going to wake up–you are stealing us blind with your schemes.

By: tex

tex — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:08:01 +0000

"As a customer, why would you sign up for a two-year contract and forgo a free (or highly subsidized) handset that you can sell on eBay and use the proceeds to defray the cost of, say, a new handset of choice?"

Maybe because they like the phone they already have.

By: sim only

sim only — Fri, 08 May 2009 12:31:59 +0000

Sim Only is a very trusted and cheap calling/text method. Prices are dropping and people get mostly unlmited texts.

By: sim only aanbiedingen

sim only aanbiedingen — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:58:07 +0000

It’s great to have sim-ony as an option. Why should you pay more every month for a phone while your old one is still great.

By: BackFromChina

BackFromChina — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 05:21:29 +0000

I just got back from a trip to China and Hong Kong, and what another poster put up is dead on, these carriers in the US just don’t get it! I have a China mobile sim card and a hong kong sim card (so close but so far, cheaper having both), both of which I bought at a local convenience store in china and Hong Kong respectively, and I interchange these cards in a cheapo sony unlocked cell phone that a business associate let me use. No contracts with either one, I have a number that I got when I bought the sim card, and once I use up the minutes on each I have to buy more minutes, buying the minutes can be done in a convenience store or over the phone with a credit card, or you can have the service automatically charge your credit card when you get below a certain level of minutes (you set the min/max). These carriers in the US really need to get a clue with this. There are carriers in China and Hong Kong that offer plans as well, but they give you a discount on the phone when you do this. It’s a joke that ATT thinks they can lock people into a multi year commitment while not subsidizing the equipment, that is unless they offer some amazing deal for supplying your own equipment. It would be great if one GSM carrier would offer a sim card in the US similar to the ease they offer them in China and Hong Kong.

By: Skydeck : AT&T Sells SIM-only Service

Skydeck : AT&T Sells SIM-only Service — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:50:58 +0000

By: David Mullings

David Mullings — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:41:20 +0000

Digicel, the largest mobile company in the Caribbean, offers sim-only sales for use with pre-paid service, no contracts or 30-day notification. if you don't put credit on the card for 45 days, the card expires and you would have to reactivate it.

I agree that AT&T should allow the sim-only sales for PRE-PAID and not post-paid service. As someone previously pointed out, that could very well grow their customer base because it reduces network switching costs - provided they don't mind pre-paid service.

By: CrunchGear » Archive » Nope, no AT&T contract required for bring-your-own-SIM card plan

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:30:52 +0000

[...] AT&T’s SIM-Only Offer Defies Logic [GigaOM] tr { border: 0px } td { cellborder: 10px} table { border: 1px solid black } [...]

By: AT&T Says SIM Contract Fiasco a Mistake - GigaOM

AT&T Says SIM Contract Fiasco a Mistake - GigaOM — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:51:19 +0000

[...] new wireless offer, which tacked on a two-year contract to a SIM card (sans handset), was just plain “goofy,” the largest U.S. wireless carrier is saying it was a “mistake” — that the [...]

By: contentious.com - links for 2008-01-22

contentious.com - links for 2008-01-22 — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:21:05 +0000

[...] AT&T’s SIM-Only Offer Defies Logic – GigaOM “This would be a great idea if AT&T didn’t insist on a two-year-contract with the SIM card. As a customer, why would you sign up for a two-year contract and forgo a free (or highly subsidized) handset that you can sell on eBay.” (tags: business dumb mobile telephony) [...]

By: BrilliantExpos

BrilliantExpos — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:25:01 +0000

This may sound naive of me but if we make a big enough deal about this on many blogs and forums does anybody think ATT will listen? This just makes pisses me off because I actually wasted time reading this (not the blog post but the content from ATT). I should charge ATT for my time.

By: egghat

egghat — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:00:28 +0000

I Germany some providers offer you contracts with or without subsidised phone. The contract without a phone (SIM-only) is typically 5 Euros cheaper per month (--> 120 Euros over the 24 month contract).

Which still doesn't make too much sense, cause the subsidies are higher than 120 Euros and it's still better to get a phone and sell it on eBay.

By: Zoobos

Zoobos — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:03:09 +0000

The more providers are trying to come up with original offers, the more they confuse the hell out of the consumers. They do not get it.

By: Chris B.

Chris B. — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 06:32:05 +0000

we all expect too much from the operators … man, is this a dumb move?! Now, wouldn’t be funny if the rest followed with competing dumb offers? :)

By: Jackson Miller

Jackson Miller — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 04:39:58 +0000

The thing is, lots of iPhone customers did the same thing. They bought an iPhone, signed a 2 year agreement, and got no hardware subsidy.

I can't blame AT&T for watching this and thinking they ought to at least try it.