Raralith, what is an AT&T MVNO? Call me intrigued. I've only been fine with being locked in a contract because I've never had a reason to switch. All the cheaper companies are cheaper for a reason (worse service). If MVNO is some acronym for a company that uses AT&T's network, but is cheaper, then I'll definitely check in to it.
Right now, my contract is about $80/month (base $50 + $30 for 3GB data). I don't pay for texting, since I can do it for free through my data plan. Add my wife's phone (base $10 + $25 for 2GB data), and it's about $115/month, + all those garbage nickel-and-dime-ya fees.
Here's the thread that got me started which has all the details.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1455014TL;DR version:
MVNO stands for "Mobile Virtual Network Operator." Straight Talk is a MVNO for both AT&T and T-Mobile so they use their respective towers (based on your location) instead of setting up their own towers, buy spectrum, go through the FCC, etc... AT&T sells voice and data at bulk/wholesale rates to Straight Talk which than retails prepaid service to their customers. It's cheap because 1) Straight Talk buys at the bulk/wholesale rate so they get a much better price (think a family plan with 100,000 add on's vs. 100,000 individual plans), 2) they have much smaller customer support staff and hours, and 3) they don't subsidize phones. Pretty much every carrier has MVNO's, some are priced better than others, and there are "tiers" of service. AT&T is more than happy to do this because they are making money from MVNO's, they get a cut from their customers (essentially I am still paying "royalties" at AT&T per say), and they charge MVNO's "fees" that are in the 5-6 figure range.
My wife and I left AT&T with our $130 contract, 2 iPhones on the grandfathered unlimited data plan, and text for her to a pair of $45 unlimited Straight Talk plans. We save $40/month * 24 months = 960 which is a fraction better than the subsidized savings of $860. The added benefit though is that we can sell our
unlocked phones anytime we want and buy a new one without a prorated $350 ETF, and an iPhone 4S is worth more 1 year than it is 2 years so I can easily sell my "old" phone and use it as a down payment for a new phone. Overall, it's pretty damn sweet and I am very happy.
That does indeed sound slick! I'm going to definitely check in to that next time my contract is up before I renew.