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What is the true cost of ownership for the iPhone?
If I'm doing a monthly or annual budget, how much should I allocate to iPhone, including incidental and hidden charges?
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If you send fewer than 200 text messages a month, then you don't need the $10/month add-on for more text messages.
And don't forget the one-time activation fee of $36 that AT&T also tacks on. There are also other miscellaneous fees.
For me, in New York City, I pay these extra fees:
Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee
$1.25
Federal Universal Service Fund
3.1%
State Universal Service Fund
$0.00
Other Government Surcharges
6.095%
It will be different dependent upon where you live. If you have a current cellular plan, your bill should state what you are paying right now in terms of extra fees, which should give a good ballpark figure.
You can go cheaper if you can do a family plan and split the total cost with someone else. This only works if you are willing to share minutes and text messages from a pool, and none of you go over.
See here:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/easysetup...
4 people say
this answers the question
Create a customer community for your own organization
Plans starting at $19/month
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Inappropriate?Okay, here it goes.
* $550 - $650 for the iPhone itself ($499 -$599 + taxes)
* $60/month for minimum AT&T service plan
* $10/month for 1500 text messages
* $1.25/month regulatory fees
So it looks like $1400 for the first year, and about $850 the second year. Not cheap, to be sure. But then cell service isn't cheap in general.
2 people say
this answers the question
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Inappropriate?If you send fewer than 200 text messages a month, then you don't need the $10/month add-on for more text messages.
And don't forget the one-time activation fee of $36 that AT&T also tacks on. There are also other miscellaneous fees.
For me, in New York City, I pay these extra fees:
Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee
$1.25
Federal Universal Service Fund
3.1%
State Universal Service Fund
$0.00
Other Government Surcharges
6.095%
It will be different dependent upon where you live. If you have a current cellular plan, your bill should state what you are paying right now in terms of extra fees, which should give a good ballpark figure.
You can go cheaper if you can do a family plan and split the total cost with someone else. This only works if you are willing to share minutes and text messages from a pool, and none of you go over.
See here:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/easysetup...
4 people say
this answers the question
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Inappropriate?Wow, steep state universal service fund!
Good point about the text message plan. Also, there's no one-time activation fee if you're already a customer of AT&T as far as I know. -
Inappropriate?it's true about the fewer-than-200 messages plan, but the interface on the SMS system, with all the little talk bubbles, is so damn cute that I end up messaging a lot more than I did on my RAZR or my Nokia 7610. Sad but true. So I'm bumping up my plan.
That said, text messaging charges are a travesty, given a) how little data they actually transmit and b) that they charge you for messages you receive, which is largely out of your control. I can't wait until somebody -- Google and Apple seem to be the leading contenders -- brings them down from their perch. Nationwide blanket wifi coverage, anyone? -
Inappropriate?I agree. I've always felt that it's criminal to be charged for text messages OTHER people send you. So lame.
I’m frustrated
