Get ready for a new monthly charge if you’re on one of Verizon or AT&T’s older plans. In a classic push towards their newer, more lucrative plans, both carriers are alerting customers on older unlimited plans of an impending new fee. Those on Verizon’s 5G Start and AT&T’s Unlimited Elite plans need to brace for these changes, effective from August.
Customers have taken to Reddit and Twitter, claiming that Verizon has begun issuing notices of a new monthly “Plan Rate Adjustment” charge of $3 per line. This impacts older plans including the 5G Start, initially introduced as Start Unlimited four years ago at $70 per month for a single line. Verizon is keen on having its legacy plan customers transition to its new Unlimited Welcome plan, which starts at $60 per month but omits mobile hotspot data found in Start Unlimited. To avail of this feature, customers need to shell out an additional $10 per month.
As noted by CNET, AT&T’s rate adjustment is set to affect customers on the older Unlimited Elite plan, costing an extra $2.50 per month. This legacy plan, previously AT&T’s premium unlimited plan, comes at $85 per month for a single line of service. As explained on a support page on AT&T’s website, the new fee aims to enable the company to “continue to deliver the great wireless service you expect.”
The introduction of new fees by Verizon and AT&T to their customers on older unlimited plans is a clear strategic maneuver aimed at driving these customers towards more profitable plans. Here at VeryBriefly, we observe that this move could be seen as an attempt to generate more revenue under the guise of improving service quality. This decision may not sit well with customers who may see this as an unnecessary additional cost. It remains to be seen how this will impact customer loyalty and the overall perception of these carriers.
