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AT&T is offering a free Apple iPhone or other eligible smartphone from LG or Samsung to all new and existing customers with the purchase of another smartphone in a special deal good through March 31.
The offer, which was unveiled by the wireless carrier on Feb. 12, is open to existing postpaid customers who want to upgrade their devices and open a new line of service and or to new customers who establish two lines of service. Postpaid accounts are billed monthly.
Both the first smartphone and the second free phone must be acquired by customers through the AT&T Next installment plans. The second free smartphone must be acquired specifically through an AT&T Next 24 plan over 30 months, according to the company.
Eligible smartphones under the deal are Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus handsets; Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy Edge, Galaxy Edge Plus, Galaxy Active and Note 5 models; and LG G4 and V10 handsets. Both the original and free smartphones must be from the same manufacturers.
New customers who switch to AT&T from another carrier can be eligible for up to $650 in bill credits to cover cancellation switching fees from their previous carrier, according to AT&T. Customers can get their new phones through ATT.com or a local AT&T retailer.
In January, AT&T made a similar buy one, get one free offer to business customers, according to an earlier eWEEK story. That offer included popular phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S6, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active and Apple’s iPhone 6s.
The company offered similar promotions to consumers on smartphones and tablets over the 2015 holiday shopping season.
Earlier in January, AT&T also began ramping up its efforts to get customers to also sign up for its DirecTV or U-Verse TV programming subscription services by offering them unlimited data on their AT&T mobile phone accounts so they can watch videos or TV shows anywhere.
The new AT&T Unlimited Plan starts at $100 monthly for the first smartphone, $40 each monthly for the next two smartphones on an account, and no charge for monthly service on a fourth smartphone, for a total of $180 per month for four family members, according to an earlier eWEEK story. Tablets can be added for $40 per month with unlimited data or for $10 a month for 1GB of data, while smartwatches can be added for $10 a month.
Also in January, competitor T-Mobile made a similar offer, giving half-off on an eligible smartphone to consumers and businesses with the purchase of a second smartphone from the same handset maker. That limited-time offer, which is good until supplies of the handsets last, was announced by T-Mobile on Jan. 27.
New and existing customers can get up to six smartphones at 50 percent off under the deal with the purchase of six other handsets at full price, according to T-Mobile’s offer. The half-off smartphone offer includes the Samsung Galaxy S6, the Galaxy Note 5, the Galaxy S6 Edge, the Galaxy S6 Edge+, the LG G4 and LG V10 handsets. Also included are the Apple iPhone 6, the iPhone 6 Plus, the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus. Under the deal, customers can pay for the phones over 24 months under a no-interest payment plan, with 50 percent off the second phone.