Did you know that you can sign up to the iPhone as a on a Prepaid Plan?
After my frustrating call with the third AT&T service rep that led to my angry blog entry I got yet another e-mail - this time from Apple:
Prepayment Required
With the credit information submitted, you have two options for activating wireless service.
1. You may go to an AT&T (Cingular) store and discuss requirements for obtaining monthly billing service. To find the AT&T (Cingular) store near you, click here
2. You may activate your iPhone using one of AT&T’s Prepaid Plan (GoPhone) offers. AT&T Prepaid Plan (GoPhone) allows you to automatically pay in advance for your monthly service using a credit of debit card. You can use your prepaid balance for voice minutes, SMS text messaging, Internet browsing and more.
To enter an activation code from an AT&T store or choose a new prepaid plan, connect your iPhone and click here
Obviously, based on this e-mail, the issue I have is none of the reasons the inept service reps have come up with but my “credit”. I hope I am credit worthy but more importantly I have signed up with LifeLock, (a Bessemer backed startup worth checking out) a couple of months ago at the recommendation of Brad Feld, after a very scary incident. Among other things LifeLock sets up your credit records such that credit agencies are forced to contact you before they disclose any information about you to anyone doing a credit check.
Mind you, I had guessed as much and asked repeatedly. The first and then the second customer rep told me that “my credit check was completed successfully”. Once I hung up with second rep guess who I called and demanded to know how AT&T was able to check my credit without my authorization (“they pay $1M if something like that happens”). It was not their fault at all.
But more importantly: Did you know that you can sign up to the iPhone on a Prepaid Plan? I certainly did not and I have not seen it advertised anywhere. Guess what’s next for me, I’ll sign up on a prepaid plan and cancel my account after a month - no 2 year contracts, no $175 cancellation fee. I will then have a functioning uber iPod with no cell phone or monthly subscription fees.
There is a bunch of interesting info on the web from “how to hack your phone and not pay AT&T” to “how to get iTunes to offer the PrePay option” as a simple Google search - “iPhone without AT&T” - revealed.
There are still a bunch of unknowns like what happens when you disable the phone and Apple updates the software, or how to turn off annoying SMS messages etc. but it may just be a dream come true for me - definitely worth a try.
Not paying AT&T, that’s priceless…
(via This and That)