The purpose of this post is to answer some of the questions I get asked most frequently about cell phone carriers.
The first question I am asked is…

Q: “Why can’t I get a new phone?”

First off, you can. What you can’t do is get your carrier (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, US Cellular or Sprint) to subsidize (discount) the price of the new phone.

Here’s how it works: When you buy a subsidized phone you sign up for a legally binding contract for two-years basically saying that you won’t switch carriers for two years. As you near the end of those two years your carreir tries to rope you into signing s new contract by offering you a subsidized phone again. The people working at the carrier have to make a living however, and therefore they can only offer a subsidation when it is profitable for them (usually with around six months left on your contract)

Q: “Can I switch carriers?”