AT&T Announces New Upgrade Policy

AT&T has offered their customers upgrades at the 20th month of their 2-year contracts for quite some time now, but today they have just announced that they will be switching to a 24-month upgrade policy. That means instead of being able to upgrade at a 20 month mark, you’ll now only be able to upgrade at discounted pricing every 2 years. Verizon changed to this policy back in March, and it looks like AT&T is following Verizon’s footsteps with this new policy.

AT&T has said that this policy will only apply to those whose contracts end after March 2014. Therefore, if your 2-year agreement is up before March 2014, you’ll still be able to upgrade at the 20-month mark. That’s about a year from now, so some of you folks out there may be still able to take advantage of the old policy.

In case you had any questions, AT&T has provided a list regarding all your future upgrade options:

Purchase a subsidized device with a new two-year wireless agreement.Â You will be eligible to upgrade your device at the subsidized price after 24 months.
Share an upgrade.Â Share an upgrade with another person on your account provided it is within the same device category (e.g. phone to phone, tablet to tablet, etc.)
Early upgrades.Â Once you’ve completed six months or more of your Service Commitment, you qualify for partial discount off the full retail price when you sign a new two-year wireless agreement.
Â Trade-in.Â Take advantage of our trade in program.Â And, for a limited time, when you trade in your current smartphone (three years or newer and in good working condition), you could receive at least $100 off the purchase of a new smartphone.1
Purchase a device at full retail price.Â You can pay full retail price for a phone anytime without a two-year Service Commitment.
Bring your own device.Â You’re welcome to bring a compatible GSM-capable phone to AT&T and sign up for service without a Service Commitment.