AT&T Increased Early Smartphone Upgrade Fee. What Happens When the iPhone 5 is Released?

There’s a curious relationship between a mobile carrier’s customer, the phone a customer buys, the subsidy for that phone, and the mobile carrier’s valuation of that subsidy. The end result is that phone companies would prefer you never buy a new phone unless they can increase your monthly phone bill through that action. And, even then, they would prefer you not buy a new phone more often than once every two years.