I'm not familiar with T-Mobile and that phone but I'm pretty sure it is required to get internet on it and there's no way to get out of it. And yes, phones that you buy without contract (meaning without renewing your contract or adding a new line) are much more expensive because the phone companies subsidize the phone so it's cheaper, and they'll make up for it by selling you a plan that you're locked into for 2 years. If your son really wants this phone I would just get it from T-Mobile because you'll probably spend about the same amount of money on internet as you would if you bought it without contract so this way you'll get the same phone, but have internet on it. If he doesn't really care about the phone then just get him another phone, but you could also check with T-Mobile and see what their policy is because they might only require you to purchase the internet plan for 3 months or something and then you can cancel it if you want. I would go to a T-Mobile store and see what they can do for you. Hope that helped.