Key Points:
- Verizon and T-Mobile have both recently announced upcoming price increases
- The increases apply to administrative fees on accounts
Verizon and T-Mobile have both announced price increase on administrative fees that will apply to both new and existing customers.
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Verizon Admin Fee Increase on Data Plans
Verizon is implementing an increase on admin fees for their postpaid data plans. Hotspot, tablet, laptop, and connected car plans are affected.
There is currently an administrative fee of $0.06/line/month on data plans, but that fee will now increase to $1.40/line/month.
Customer notifications about the increase will start going out on November 1, and the increase will go into effect as of December 1.
The increase does not apply to smartphone, watch, or Home Internet plans, nor will it apply to Business accounts.
Verizon implemented a similar increase for smartphone plans in May of 2022.
T-Mobile New Device Connection Charge
T-Mobile is also implementing a change related to a service fee called the "Assisted Support Charge", or ASC.
The ASC currently applies to new lines of service or upgrades for phone plans, and is a one-time fee of $35/line. Previously, the ASC did not apply to orders that were placed online, nor to data plans, Home Internet or Small Business Internet lines.
This ASC will now be called the "Device Connection Charge", or DCC. It will remain a one-time fee of $35, but it will now apply to both phone and data lines, and to every line that is added or upgraded, whether the order is placed in-store or online.
The only transaction in which the DCC will not apply is if a new line is not being added, such as swapping a SIM to a new device.
The DCC will go into effect on November 15.
Lines that did not previously have the ASC (data plans, Home Internet and Small Business Internet plans) will have the ASC implemented as of November 3, and then they will move to the DCC on November 15 as well.
Summary
These increases are not terribly surprising, given that Verizon and AT&T both already implemented price increases this year in May.
It remains to be seen if Verizon will also extend this admin fee increase to other data plans or Business plans.
Verizon and AT&T both already charge similar activation fees, so T-Mobile's change brings them in line with what their competitors were already doing. The notable difference is that T-Mobile did not previously apply this fee to data plans nor to online orders, but now will start doing so.
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