Some people love to have the latest tech, especially when it comes to smartphones. Most cell companies cater to this particular interest by offering special plans or add-ons that enable customers to upgrade more frequently than a typical 24 or 36 month installment takes.
T-Mobile offers their Go5G Next plan, which allows customers to upgrade once a year and trade-in their current device, forgiving the remaining 50% of the installment cost.
AT&T offers something very similar, called “Next UP”, which is a plan add-on for $6 per month that can be added to any line on an eligible rate plan. That add-on allows customers to upgrade once they’ve paid off 50% of the device.
Now, it appears the company will be expanding that program, at least in some test markets, to allow for even earlier upgrades for customers that want it.
AT&T Next UP Anytime
According to a document shared with us here at The Mobile Report, AT&T will be expanding their Next UP add-on to include an “Anytime” option. The new add-on will allow customers to trade-in their existing device up to three times per rolling 12 months, and have the remaining balance on the installment “waived” in order to start a new installment on a new device.
The new add-on will apparently cost $10 per month and will begin testing in select markets on July 2nd. It’s likely, though not confirmed, that this new add-on option will sit alongside the existing Next UP add-on, and allow customers to pick which they’d prefer, if any.
Customers who opt for the new option will have the ability to trade-in a phone as soon as one month after starting their installment, and have the remaining installment cost waived as long as they start a new installment plan on a new device. This appears to differ from the existing Next UP add-on, which requires paying 50% of the device before being eligible to trade in.
It’s worth noting, though, that customers would need to pay at least 33% of the device’s full cost before being “eligible for new smartphone deals” through the company. Presumably, this means that customers that upgrade super early without hitting the 33% point will only be able to start a new installment at full-price, without any promotional deals, though that’s not fully clear at this time.
The document states that the new add-on will be available in a limited capacity across various locations in “Northeast States”. The pilot begins July 2nd and rolls out to these markets through July 25th. It’s likely that, if the program catches on, AT&T will expand it nationwide.
