AT&T is set to jack up prices on retired unlimited plans - here's when and by how much
If you're an AT&T customer with an older unlimited mobile plan, you will likely soon have to cough up more cash. In a new support article, the carrier revealed that it's raising the monthly charge on most of its retired unlimited wireless plans. The price increase is due to start in August, which means subscribers will see the higher cost on their August bills.
Customers with a single line of service will see their monthly cost rise by $10. People with multiple lines will be hit with an overall increase of $20 per month. Thankfully, that $20 is the total amount of the charge and not one that will be applied per line.
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The price increases will affect the following A&T unlimited plans:
- AT&T Unlimited & More Premium
- AT&T Unlimited Choice Enhanced
- AT&T Unlimited & More
- AT&T Unlimited Choice II
- AT&T Unlimited Plus
- AT&T Unlimited Choice
- AT&T Unlimited Plan
- AT&T Unlimited Plus Enhanced
- AT&T Unlimited Value Plan
- AT&T Unlimited Plan (with TV)
To help offset the price increase, AT&T is offering more high-speed data and hotspot data to the affected plans. The Unlimited Choice, Choice II, Choice Enhanced, Unlimited & More, and Unlimited Value plans will receive 75GB of high-speed data and 30GB of hotspot data. The Unlimited Plus, Plus Enhanced, Unlimited & More Premium, and Unlimited (with TV) plans will get 100GB of high-speed data and 60GB of hotspot data.
AT&T's move comes in the midst of similar increases by the two other major US carriers. In May, T-Mobile announced that it was bumping up the monthly prices on several of its mobile plans by $2 or $5 as a result of rising costs. In February, Verizon said that it would be raising the price on some of its older unlimited plans by $4 per month.
Why the price increases? Carriers typically cite rising costs and the funds needed to enhance and build up their network infrastructure. That said, they're also eager to move customers from older legacy plans to newer ones that may be easier to manage.
In its support article, AT&T suggested that subscribers to one of the older unlimited plans consider the options available through its Unlimited Your Way umbrella, touting these plans as providing the most value for your dollar. Specifically, the carrier promoted its Unlimited Premium PL, Unlimited Extra EL, and Unlimited Starter SL as alternatives for people who don't want to pay the increased prices on one of the affected plans.