14 DAY TRIAL // Many 16GB iPhone upgraders have reportedly failed identifying themselves as existing AT&T customers after inserting their old SIM card into the new Apple phone. Others wondered whether or not the 16 giger had added another two years to their AT&T contract. Well, AT&T has finally provided with an answer.
"...while some people have claimed no extension whatsoever, others have been angered to discover an extra obligation," reads a recent tuaw.com post. Confusion couldn't be greater this time around on Apple forums, so Scott Kleinberg, of iPhone, Therefore I Blog, got in touch with an AT&T spokesperson who he claims he trusts, to clear the air once and for all.
Purchasing a new 16GB iPhone and using it as an upgrade to an existing plan does not, in fact, extend the two-year contract: "This is ABSOLUTELY FALSE," says Kleinberg's piece. "If you get someone at an AT&T store that tells you this, do not let the contract get extended. Ask to speak to a manager ... do whatever you need to do but do not walk out of there or hang up the phone with an extended contract.
I was told by an AT&T official that there is no need to sign a new contract. You swap the SIM from the old phone to the new. It should be that simple." Actually, other sources claim it isn't that simple, and that you might just have to confirm with iTunes to get the old SIM working with the new 16 giger.
According to an AT&T spokesperson, iPhone customers who want to upgrade to the 16GB model "can do so without extending their contracts." They can even keep the same phone number. Activation requires the user to acknowledge the contract, but the effective start date remains when the plan was originally introduced.