AT&T Increases Activation Fees – If You Want A Contract

This is part of AT&T's move to encourage more customers to sign up for service without signing two year contracts, and without getting a huge discount that hides the true cost of a phone in the process.

Instead - AT&T's "Next" plan allows customers to finance new phones with $0 down, no interest charged, no activation fees, and no upgrade fees - but the full cost of the phone is broken into payments and added to your bill until it is fully paid off over the course of a year or 18 months.

This may cost more upfront, but in the long run actually will save most users money - and these sorts of no-contract plans seem like a good general shift for the industry.

More info:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/att-increases-activation-fee-4-customers-2-year-contracts/2014-06-12