The wireless industry is constantly changing. It will Change again with Sprint being bought by T mobile. I Dont think that change will be for the better having been in the industry. I never liked AT&T. My Mom changed from Cable to U Verse and had nothing but problems. Mom eventually changed...
Upgrade fees to get new phones is one of the reasons I left my customer service job for one of the major carriers. I think it is ridiculous to charge someone to spend $700-$1200 to get a new device. I couldn’t justify it no matter what management told us internally.