Although it may be a chunk of change, you may want to consider buying a phone contract-free, or even a pay-as-you-go plan. Your upfront price may be more, but you’ll be able to change carriers on your phone without waiting until your contract expires.
Privacy Concerns
Odds are that most consumers will think twice about purchasing an iPhone through Verizon after major details of NSA phone surveillance were released.
Unfortunately, pretty much every major carrier is liable to offer up customer information to agencies like the NSA, so if you really want to stay off the grid, you can always load your contract-free phone with pre-paid SIM cards.
This isn’t really a practical solution for most smartphone users, so just be aware that on most carriers, regardless of the contract, you won’t have much privacy in your smartphone data.