The idea is not a new one and has seen deployment in the UK via the O2 carrier, which offers iPhone leasing at $86 a month for a one year period. This is what TMNG Global is hoping to bring to the US, which is to offer smartphones for lease on a one year basis with no upfront fee and customers would just end up being charged on a monthly basis. This will allow customers to stay up to date with the latest phones which usually see refreshes on a yearly basis, and at the same time does not tie them down to any contract.
MDLx (Mobile Device Lease xChange), a subsidiary of TMNG Global will be the ones handling the paperwork and are said to be in talks with several tier one carriers, but unfortunately the major carriers have yet to pick up on the idea. Hopefully if the scheme is successful, perhaps we can start seeing mobile phone users stay up to date with technology without having to skip a generation of phones due to contract restrictions. What do you guys think? Is smartphone leasing an idea you’d like to see US carriers start offering?