With AT&T trying to get its customers to switch to limited data plans, it’s no surprise that the company has announced that it will once again be hiking the price of its “grandfathered” data plans in order to push customers with the plan to make the switch. Currently, at AT&T, customers can get their hands on new unlimited data plans, but in order to get access to these, they need to sign up for AT&T’s DirecTV service, something that, in combination with an unlimited data plan, can end up being very costly. This is perhaps one of the reasons that customers who still have the privilege of using legacy unlimited data plans are so keen to keep a hold of them.
Unfortunately, though, AT&T doesn’t feel the same way and has quietly announced through their online customer support page that they will be increasing the price of their legacy plans in an effort to force customers to switch to limited data ones. This isn’t the first time the company has done this, though, with AT&T previously raising the price by $5 back in February 2016. With the new increase, AT&T is once again increasing the price of its legacy plan by $5, bringing the total cost up to $40, though customers won’t be affected by this change until March 2017. Now, as well as the possibility of switching before the change comes into place, AT&T is also allowing customers with the plans to cancel their unlimited data plan within 60 days of the change appearing on their bill. In this case, AT&T will waive their early termination fee.
With the company constantly pushing its limited data plans, as well as the price increase and even the reduction in speed on unlimited data plans once customers surpass 22GB of data usage per month, it’s clear that it will only be a matter of time before the majority of customers have made the switch over to newer plans. For those who decide to stick with their unlimited data, though, it wouldn’t be surprising if the company decides to put up the price for a third time within the next year if too many customers are still using the plans. Nonetheless, for those thinking of making the switch to a limited data offering, once the switch is made their previous unlimited data plan will be gone forever.