AT&T Announced the Launch of Equipment Instalment Plan for Accessories, Up to $400

AT&T, a leading network carrier in the US, has recently expanded its equipment installment payment plan to cover accessories. The carrier said its wireless customers can purchase accessories such as LG Tone Infinim headsets and Bose SoundLink speakers through the plans and pay them off in monthly installments with zero down payment and zero interest.

The network said the offering is only available through itsretail stores. And, the customers can only purchase one accessory per phone number or two per account. The offering only covers accessories priced between $149 and $400. The launch is notable because it will allow AT&T to potentially sell more accessories through its retail outlets, thereby deriving more revenues from the sale of accessories.

The move is also not surprising considering how popular equipment installment plans have become for the purchase of smartphones. The plans generally allow customers to break up the cost of devices into monthly payments stretching across 12, 18 or 24 months, depending on the plan they select, thereby making it easier for customers to afford expensive gadgetry. 

Indeed, AT&T said that fully 90 percent of its postpaid smartphone sales in the first quarter used the carrier's "Next" branded equipment installment plan (EIP), or were customers who brought their own devices to the carrier. That's an impressive figure, considering AT&T only introduced EIP pricing a few years ago. Previously the carrier only sold devices under a subsidized model through two-year service contracts.

Over the past several years, wireless carriers have worked carefully to finance the cost of EIP plans, since they don't immediately receive the full payment for customers' devices. "We continue to find ample demand and great rates in the securitization market to help us manage our Next receivables," said AT&T CFO John Stephens on the carrier's first-quarter conference call.  He further added, "We have received about $1.5 billion in the first quarter, or about the same amount as last year's first quarter."