It's worst than that. They won't sell you an iPhone without a data plan on it. You can go out and buy one off craigslist, unlock and jailbreak it. But to be quite honest, an iPhone is not an iPhone without the always avaialable data connection. I didn't think I would need to be wired 24-7, but hell, you learn to live life like that. And it's great!

I can tell you that the iPhone will not operate on the AT&T network at all without a data plan.

They will also make you commit to the data plan before selling you the phone.

I rather doubt that you can get one or two free iPhoes out of them. Perhaps a bit of a discount below their normal asking price, but ya just never know. I signed up for two years on a new agreement, and they still stuck me for $299 for my 32 GB 3GS. Best of luck to you on this. And please let us know how it turns out.

My AT&T contract is up for renewal - and how can i bargain for an iphone? Is it possible that I may be able to negotiate one or two free iphones if i am signing up for 2 years? Secondly, can i still use the phone functionalities of the iphone without having a data plan on it?