AT&T has announced that it will increase the price of its grandfathered unlimited data plans by $5 per month, bringing their price to $45. The change will take effect starting next month, and affected subscribers should receive a notification about the rate increase soon. According to the network operator, the rate increase is necessary so that the carrier can continue providing the best service to its subscribers in the face of increasing data consumption among consumers. This is not the first time that an American carrier increased the fees it charges to subscribers with grandfathered unlimited data plans. AT&T has already increased the price of its grandfathered plans at least twice in the past two years. The carrier added $5 to the cost of grandfathered plans back in February of 2016, and it again increased the rates by another $5 in March of 2017. On the other hand, back in 2015, Verizon raised the cost of its counterpart offerings by as much as $20, and like AT&T, the carrier justified the move as necessary to ensure the best possible performance of the carrier’s network for the benefit of its subscribers.
The carrier assured its subscribers that the price increase will not impact the data speeds that they experience on its network, although it should be noted that the network operator is implementing deprioritization as well, meaning subscribers who already consumed more than 22GB of data in a billing cycle will see reduced speeds once the network experiences congestion. However, the data speeds experienced by subscribers should return to normal when the data traffic on their network has decreased.
AT&T is also informing affected subscribers that they have the choice of switching to another data plan. However, once consumers do so, they are no longer allowed to switch back to their grandfathered unlimited data plan. Meanwhile, AT&T is reminding subscribers that if they choose to cancel their subscription, they may have to pay for the remaining installment balance for devices or accessories that are tied to the plan. The remaining balance is due immediately after the cancellation of service.