Screwy Math from AT&T

So. Two iPhones on a family plan would cost $50 more per month if they were upgraded to 3G. Let’s add up just the fees over the first year (and not the cost of the phones, which we’ll assume is a constant):

$36 for upgrades (two upgrade fees at $18 each)
$240 for data ($10/mo for twelve months, twice)
$360 for SMS ($30/mo for twelve months, shared)

$636 to upgrade two iPhones to 3G. And that’s just the price difference for the first year (assuming that in another year there’ll be another upgrade).

Now, let’s say you add the two new 3G iPhones as additional devices, plunk the SIMs from the old iPhones into the new ones, and then cancel the additional devices:

$72 for activations (two at $36 each)
$140 for one month of service (two at $70/mo)
$350 for early termination (two at $175 each)

$562 to add and then cancel two 3G iPhones. I think I know what I’ll be doing.