AT&T offers customers $100 credit if they activate a smartphone via Next upgrade plan

AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) is giving a $100 bill credit to new and existing customers who activate a new line of service with a smartphone under AT&T's Next device installment plan. The promotional offer, which runs through Sept. 30, is the latest in a series of price cuts and offers among the Tier 1 carriers to lure switchers.

Customers can choose either AT&T Next 12 (in which they pay off the cost of their device via 20 monthly payments) or AT&T Next 18 (a 24-month installment plan). Under the Next 12 plan, after 12 monthly payments customers can upgrade to a new smartphone. Under Next 18, customers can upgrade after 18 payments. To get the bill credit, customers must remain in good standing and they will get the credit within three billing cycles.

AT&T offered a similar promotion in the first quarter of this year. AT&T has been steadily accelerating the number of its customers who are buying devices unsubsidized through Next. In the second quarter AT&T said it had 3.1 million AT&T Next smartphone sales, compared to 2.9 million in the first quarter. AT&T said Next sales represented around 50 percent of all smartphone sales in the second quarter. That compares to around 40 percent in the first quarter (or 35 percent when taking out accelerated upgrades).

Last week AT&T's Cricket prepaid brand started offering T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS) and MetroPCS subscribers a $100 bill credit to switch over to Cricket through Oct. 19. That offer came just after T-Mobile said it will give any customer on its Simple Choice plans unlimited LTE data for a year if they bring a new customer to T-Mobile. (For those Simple Choice customers who already have unlimited data, T-Mobile said it will give them a $10-per-month credit for a year.)

Meanwhile, through Sept. 30, if customers bring their number and activate their plans on the Sprint's (NYSE: S) new Family Share Pack shared data plans, Sprint will buy out their families' contracts with a Visa Prepaid Card worth up to $350.

For more:
- see this AT&T post

Related Articles:
T-Mobile gives 'Simple Starter' customers 2 GB of data for $45/month
AT&T's Cricket targets T-Mobile and MetroPCS subs with $100 credit to switch
Analysts: Sprint's $60 plan could pressure T-Mobile, but not Verizon and AT&T
Sprint drops unlimited everything plan to $60, undercuts T-Mobile by $20
T-Mobile to give unlimited LTE data to customers who 'rescue' subscribers from Sprint, others