Buying an unlocked phone

Alright heres the situation I was wondering if I could buy an unlocked phone to add to the fifth line of my AT&T family plan without having to sign a new contract. Currently I have 3 lines on the family plan but for the fifth one (if I were to buy from att) I would have to sign a new contract. This would make my family plan have 2 different contracts start and end at different times. I was wondering if I could get an unlocked phone and buy a sim card and not sign a contract until my other 4 lines' contract expires. Do you think this is this possilbe? I've already chatted online with support and they said I would have to call in support to find an answer. I don't really feel like being put on hold for like an hour.

Every line in a FamilyTalk plan has to be under contract whether a phone is purchased or not. There is no advantage to having all contracts end at the same time unless you want to jump to a new carrier and avoid early termination fees. You can upgrade each line as it expires or continue month to month.

Well actually the reason I want to have them the same is because I am going to switch to sprint once my contract ends

Why not get the Pay As You GoPhone with unlimited mobile to mobile for the new line until your contracts expire? That will cost you a lot more than the $9.99 for a new line under FamilyTalk. Compare the total cost over the remaining period of the contracts on your other lines versus paying ETF to get out of the contract for the new line when the other contracts expire. If you spend $40.00 per month on a GoPhone, you would save $360.00 in a year getting another line under FamilyTalk. That would more than make up for the ETF on that new line. It all boils down to how long before the contracts expire.

What about getting a one year contract? BTW my contract ends 6/29/08

FamilyTalk usually requires a two year contract but it would not hurt to ask.