Background: This week Verizon offers plans without contracts. A phone that used to cost $100 with a 2 year contract now costs $430 with no contract. This is an attempt by Verizon to become more “open”.
You can expect, within a year or so, that cell phone companies will allow you to finance, possibly interest free, your phone. This cost would be added right into your normal cell phone bill. So instead of paying that $430 up front, you may be able to spread it out over 6 months to a year, adding a $30-80 a month. There will probably be added incentives behind this as well. “Finance for 12 months and get a $150 rebate“. This way the phone carrier gets you as a customer, but they don’t lose out on selling you the phone.
Once the phone carriers think it through, they might actually be making money from phones, not just cellular service.
