Some of the growth from last year’s numbers could also be attributed to AT&T’s Next device upgrade plan, which lets customers get a phone or iPad for zero money down. The Next plan, launched in July, spreads device payments over a period of two years, allowing qualifying customers to upgrade after 12 months in the plan.
The upgrade plan must be attached to a wireless service plan (albeit with no long term contract), otherwise, if the wireless service is cancelled the customer must pay the remaining amount on the device.