AT&T entices Nexus 7 buyers to sign up for two-year data contract with $100 statement credit

AT&T said last year it was going cease subsidized pricing for tablets, but that hasn’t stopped the carrier from trying to convince customers to sign up for two-year contracts in exchange for a little extra cash. The carrier is now advertising a deal on the HSPA+ Nexus 7 page on Google Play saying that it’ll refund a $100 bill credit to those who agree to a two-year data contract. Just like a similar deal from last year, it isn’t a very good one — you’ll be effectively limiting the unlocked device to one carrier in exchange for a rather small $100 credit — but if you were one of the few planning to buy a data plan for your tablet from AT&T every month for the next two years, the extra money doesn’t hurt. The deal makes more sense if you’re committing to the $10-per-month tablet add-on package for Mobile Share, in which case you’ll be getting $100 out of your $240 in committed mobile data costs back to you. We’ve reached out to AT&T to see if this deal is valid to those who’ve already purchased a HSPA+ Nexus 7, but in either case, the not-so-great deal ends February 14th.

Update: AT&T has confirmed to us that this is part of the $100-off offer from last November, and that current owners of the Nexus 7 (or any other tablet) can take advantage.