AT&T reverses one-iPhone policy

Go ahead, buy three.

(Credit: Corrine Schulze/CNET Networks)

Just one day after instituting a policy of one iPhone sale per customer, AT&T said Thursday that it has ended the policy both on its Web site and in its retail stores. Customers will now be able to buy three iPhones per person, a limit that the carrier enacted when the device first went on sale almost a year ago.

The nation's largest carrier and exclusive provider of the iPhone imposed the new policy only Wednesday, limiting iPhones to not only one per customer, but also one per household. At the time, AT&T gave no reason for the limit, nor did it make an official announcement. An AT&T spokesperson declined to comment and even a customer service rep we spoke to over the phone was unaware of the one-iPhone limit.

According to Information Week, the carrier lifted the new limit after realizing it has "sufficient inventory" to revert to its original policy. What's more, though AT&T started selling refurbished iPhones earlier this week at a $150 discount, the refurbished models are no longer listed on AT&T's site.

It's a bizarre turn in the wait for the 3G iPhone, which is expected to launch during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference that starts June 9. Apple has not set an official release date for the device, but recent iPhone inventory shortages in the United Kingdom and the United States have fueled speculation that a launch is imminent. Also, Apple is no longer selling the current iPhone on its online store.

[QueMike]

AT&T needs to get their feces collated. They have had so many policy changes and reversals in the last two weeks that it makes my head spin. Free WiFi for iPhones, then yes, then no, then yes. We're out of stock on iPhones, not out, but you can only buy 1, oh wait you can buy 3 iPhones.

[QueMike]

AT&T needs to get their act together. They have had so many policy changes and reversals in the last two weeks that it makes my head spin. Free WiFi for iPhones, then yes, then no, then yes. We're out of stock on iPhones, not out, but you can only buy 1, oh wait you can buy 3 iPhones.

[jmhaynie]

This is a WOOT!-like policy!

[royauty]

It's clear there's just been a miscommunication regarding when the new iPhone is going to be launched. It seems likely to me that we'll see the refurbished iPhone for sale again exactly two weeks before the launch of the 3G version. And that this won't be June 1st (in contrast to what someone at AT&T appears to have thought).