all about TECH

If you’re one of the Verizon customers who is considering an upgrade to iPhone 4 then you should read the fine prints first. You might know by now about Verizon’s $200 upgrade deal where you can get a 16GB iPhone or $300 for the 32GB version. The retail price for these is $650 and $750, respectively.

What Verizon failed to mention is that this upgrade plan doesn’t apply to everyone. Short-term subscribers are disqualified for it. You’ll have to pay the full retail price of $650 for the 16GB iPhone 4. Plus short-termed subscribers aren’t eligible for the $100 phasing out discount every 20 months.

If you’re a short-term Verizon subscriber, don’t fret. There’s a cheap way of acquiring a Verizon iPhone 4. You could terminate your existing Verizon contract. You’ll have to pay the termination fee of $135. Then you could sign up again and get the 16GB iPhone 4 for just $200. That’s cheaper than the full retail price. You just need to pay the $35 for one-time new contract activation fee.

If you want to retain your old Verizon number, you can port it to Google Voice for just $20. It is possible to port from Google Voice to Verizon again. Or you can just forward calls from the Google Voice to your new Verizon number.

The bad news is that you can’t get a new Verizon account until February 9. That’s a price to pay if you want to get an iPhone 4 for less than the retail price.