Two Year Phone Contracts Have Now Been Killed By All Major US Telecoms

The argument in favor of ending longer term contracts is similar to that used to support the gig economy: it gives the consumer more 'flexibility.'

That no one ever asks the consumer whether she wants more flexibility versus, say, additional certainty for phone costs so that she can budget and plan, appears to be beside the point for the phone carriers, as well as every other service provider in the digital economy. And we cant help but wonder how consumers would respond if offered lower costs rather than enhanced flexibility and transparency. JL

Jacob Kastrenakes reports in The Verge:

It means having one fewer option to buy a phone, (but) the transition over to installment plans has been good for those who want more flexibility and transparency in their phone service.

The two-year phone contract is dead. Sprint confirmed that it is no longer offering two-year contracts on phones, meaning that all four major US carriers — Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint — now only sell phones at full price and on installment plans. Though it means having one fewer option to buy a phone, the transition over to installment plans has been good news for those who want more flexibility and transparency in their phone service. Rather than having a hidden fee built into your phone contract, you can now know — and choose — exactly how much your phone payment is.

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Contracts will not be missed

Sprint quietly dropped its contract option last Friday, the same day that AT&T did. It will continue selling tablets on contract plans. Android Central first reported the details via a leaked retail slide on Thursday.
T-Mobile was the first of the major carriers to stop offering two-year contracts, doing so almost three years ago at this point. It took a while before T-Mobile's competitors began to do the same, but once they did, contracts died off pretty quickly. AT&T began following T-Mobile's lead early last year by limiting where two-year contracts were sold. Verizon killed its contract plans in August, and reports that Sprint would do the same followed shortly thereafter. As of last Friday, AT&T and Sprint finally put an end to them.