Jesus, you guys have it pretty shitty over there when it comes to mobile phones.
Over here, you generally pay nothing for your phone if you are going onto a contract, and pay an optional (minimal) fee per month so that if your phone goes wrong, its fixed or replaced for free (well not really free as you are paying insurance, but you know what I mean).
Also, on top of that, once your contract is due for expiry (either 12 or 18 months usually), and you wish to renew, you can get a new phone free of charge (and you keep the old one).
The only way you generally ever buy a phone is because you want a new model before your contract expires, or you are a pay as you go customer rather than a contract customer.
