Can I buy the iphone 5, deactivate it and activate an old phone?

[kewi2186]

I do not have the money to afford the data plan for an iphone 5 right now, but since I am starting a contract, I wanted to take advantage of the 2 year contract price for when I am able to use it. I hear a rumor that you have to have the iphone 5 activated for a certain amount of time (a year?) before you can deactivate it... but this can't be true? What if someone simply decides they don't want to pay for a smart phone anymore? Or the phone itself breaks? There's no way Verizon can restrict customers from changing phones.

[#2]

If you're talking about upgrading an existing line on a new 2 year contract, I'm pretty sure you can do that unless Apple has some restriction.  Don't go through a 3rd party store because they usually have some additional restrictions.

[kewi2186]

It would be a new line.. new contract.

[#4]

A new line might require a Share Everything plan.  I'm not sure.  If so, that might not work anymore.  Call *611 and ask them.

[rcschnoor]

Yes, you can deactivate your iPhone by activating any other Verizon phone on its line.