Regardless of which cell phone carrier you choose—whether that's Verizon Wireless, AT&T, or T-Mobile—we've gotten used to a monthly bill arriving in our mailbox or email. And while carriers offer certain perks and benefits, such as bundled streaming services or price breaks when adding multiple lines, these bills can end up costing you a pretty penny. Now, AT&T has plans to charge you even more money, depending on what plan you have. Read on to find out what you'll want to look for on next month's bill.
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AT&T made headlines earlier this year.
ShutterstockIn Jan. 2022, AT&T and Verizon announced that they would postpone their 5G rollout due to concerns about the upgrade affecting air travel. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Steve Dickson, head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), requested that the introduction be pushed back, as there were concerns that the 5G network might disrupt airplane electronics. The rollout was delayed by two weeks (after already being pushed back from Dec. 5, 2021), but both phone companies successfully implemented 5G on Jan. 19, 2022. Now, different concerns have put AT&T back in the news, but this time, the changes will affect your wallet rather than your connection.
If you're a current AT&T customer, you might want to keep an eye on upcoming bills.
sebra / ShutterstockFor those who use AT&T for wireless service, you could be affected by AT&T's increased pricing structure. According to Bloomberg, the carrier is raising monthly prices for select older Unlimited and Mobile Share plans. If you pay for one line, you may see a $6 bump, while families with multiple lines could see a $12 increase.
These price increases are the first that AT&T has made since 2019, when the prices were increased for Mobile Share Value data plans, according to The Verge. Plan prices were upped by $10, but AT&T accounted for the issue by adding an "extra" 15GB of data that customers were unable to opt out of.
There are a couple reasons for the price hike.
PERO studio / ShutterstockBloomberg reported that AT&T is upping its prices for two key reasons—the first of which has to do with inflation. In April 2022, John Stankey, CEO of AT&T, said that in light of inflation, AT&T price increases would likely occur during the next few quarters, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. Stankey noted that he expected to see rising prices for telecom and the economy in general.
The price hike is also being implemented to encourage users to switch to newer unlimited plans, according to John Butler, senior industry analyst for Bloomberg. In a statement to The Verge, an AT&T spokesperson seemed to echo this, saying, "We are encouraging our customers to explore our newer plans which offer many additional features, more flexibility for each line on their account, and, in many cases, a lower monthly cost."
AT&T will let you know if you can expect to see a higher bill.
ShutterstockIf your June bill is going up, AT&T will be letting you know via a bill message and an email this week. These messages may also prompt you to consider another plan option with AT&T, as the spokesperson told The Verge that the messages "may indicate that the customer may be interested in one of our more current plans either to save on their monthly charge or get additional features for a slightly higher cost each month."
AT&T confirmed changes will go into effect on June 1. However, the increase will not affect some current plans, such as the $50 single line 4GB plan, AT&T told The Verge. And while the carrier will not be publishing a list of all affected plans, you can stay ahead of the news by signing into your myAT&T account and finding out which plan you have.
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