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The carriers are at it again: Verizon and AT&T are both notifying customers on older unlimited plans to expect a new fee on their bill soon. Customers on Verizon\u2019s 5G Start and AT&T\u2019s Unlimited Elite plans are affected, and the fees go into effect in August. It\u2019s a classic move from the \u201cwireless carrier shenanigans\u201d playbook designed to push customers to newer, more profitable plans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Verizon customers on Reddit<\/a> and Twitter<\/a> report that the company has just sent notice of a new monthly \u201cPlan Rate Adjustment\u201d charge of $3 per line. Older plans are affected, including 5G Start, which Verizon introduced as Start Unlimited four years ago and costs $70 per month for a single line. Verizon would very much like customers on that legacy plan to switch to its new Unlimited Welcome<\/a>, which starts at $60 per month but doesn\u2019t include mobile hotspot data like Start Unlimited \u2014 you\u2019ll need to add that on for an extra $10 per month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As spotted by CNET<\/em><\/a>, AT&T\u2019s rate adjustment hits customers on the older Unlimited Elite plan and will cost them an extra $2.50 per month. The legacy plan was previously AT&T\u2019s top-tier unlimited plan<\/a> and costs $85 per month for one line of service. It\u2019s all detailed in a support page on AT&T\u2019s website<\/a>, which says that the fee is being applied so the company can \u201ccontinue to deliver the great wireless service you expect.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n So that, my friends, is how they get you: they charge an extra fee to stay on your old plan without actually raising the rate of the old plan. It\u2019s a shame we still don\u2019t have that fourth wireless carrier<\/a> to switch to \u2014 it would really come in handy right now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n