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I'm curious how they determine it cost ATT 200M in revenue. If your business model relies on people who own their own device being stuck with you, perhaps it's time to look in the mirror.

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I guess AT&T makes about $106 USD for every locked phone they sell?

$201,497,430.94 (USD) / 1,900,033 (phones) = $106.049 (USD per phone)

I used the numbers from this link:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/fraudster-sentenced-prison-lo...

Isn't it pretty common to subsidize the cost of phones by requiring a certain length of service? What business model would you propose?

That's called a contract. You still have to pay money to end your contract early.

Carriers, to my knowledge, do not sell phones at a loss without a contract in place.

from the doj press release:

> AT&T has further determined that the loss it suffered because customers, whose cellular phones were illegally unlocked, failed to complete payments for their cellular telephones was $201,497,430.94.

There's really no effective way to collect amounts of money not worth suing over when someone stops paying on a contract like this.

Thanks. This actually answers my initial questions. So basically, deadbeats gaming the system :(.

Deadbeats and companies.

The latter fully control their lending standards, and can pull back on lending to poor credit risks.

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