Art of the iPhone

*Update* iLounge has confirmed that current iPhone users do qualify for the subsidized pricing, regardless of how long they’ve been on contract. Via iLounge:

According to Mark Siegel, Executive Director of Media Relations with AT&T Mobility, only “[c]urrent iPhone customers, new customers, and current non-iPhone AT&T wireless customers who are upgrade eligible will get the iPhone 3G at the $199/$299 price points.”

Here are AT&T’s current rules to qualify as “upgrade eligible” (for AT&T customers who don’t own an iPhone):

• 24 months of cell service since the activation of your current phone, or
• 24 months of cell service since your last upgrade.

Or,

• 21 months of cell service with contract but no upgrades, and have a data plan and standard voice plan that costs between $68.99 or $98.99 a month, or
• 12 months of cell service and pay more than $99 a month for data and standard voice plan.

If you pay less than $68.99 month, you have to wait until month 21 of your contract to get the upgrade pricing, and you have to pay an undisclosed fee (rumored to be around $20).

Helpful Links:

Wirefly.com details AT&T Upgrades.

iLounge “Not all AT&T customers eligible for $199 iPhone 3G.”