Skip to main content

AT&T hits mobile customers with new fee, rakes in half a billion a year

att-corporate
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Announced by AT&T recently on the company site, mobile customers will be paying an additional $0.61 on their bills for an “administrative surcharge” according to the name of the line item. Amounting to an additional $7.32 per year from each customer, that small monthly fee will add up to hundreds of millions of dollars for the mobile service provider since the subscriber base is around 70 million. Kicking off on May 1, 2013, the charge has been added to all consumer accounts in addition to business accounts. 

Generic-AT&T-phoneDebated on the AT&T forums recently, some users are attempting to contact AT&T to dispute the fee while others believe the fee doesn’t quality for a contract termination without having to pay the early termination fee (ETF) that’s attached to each contract.

Specifically, AT&T isn’t raising the price of the contracts, only adding an additional fee separate from the agreed contract rate. This allowed the company to start charging the extra fee immediately rather than wait for the next contract renewal.

According to AT&T, the additional half a billion per year will be used for interconnection costs, maintenance and and cellular site rentals. AT&T representatives were quick to point out that the fee was in line with their competitors Verizon and Sprint. Both rival mobile companies charge an additional administrative fee separately from the contract rate. AT&T sent out notifications to customers regarding the new fee thirty days prior adding the extra cost to customer’s bills. During 2013, AT&T will collect about $350 million over the remaining eight months the fee is in effect.

Verizon attempted to charge a similar fee during late 2011, but the move was quickly squashed by complaints from subscribers. Specifically, the company attempted to add a $2 “convenience fee” for paying a bill online or over the phone. Consumer response was largely negative and and company quickly reversed the policy prior to the launch. 

Editors' Recommendations

Mike Flacy
By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…
T-Mobile subscribers can get MLS Season Pass for free
MLS Season Pass on an iPhone.

T-Mobile today announced that it's giving its subscribers MLS Season Pass for free. The service — which gets you every MLS game this season, along with other attached leagues — normally costs $100 for the season, or $15 a month.

T-Mobile subscribers (and Metro by T-Mobile customers) will be able to add MLS Season Pass via the T-Mobile Tuesdays app starting on February 21.

Read more
Here’s another big reason why T-Mobile 5G dominates AT&T and Verizon
T-Mobile smartphone.

T-Mobile continues to command a massive lead in offering the best 5G experience among U.S. carriers. A few weeks ago, a report from Ookla revealed that T-Mobile is leaving its rivals in the dust; now Opensignal has confirmed that not only is the Un-carrier’s lead increasing in raw speeds, but it’s leading the way in taking 5G into the mainstream.

According to Opensignal’s latest 5G Experience Report, T-Mobile not only offers the fastest 5G experience in the U.S. by a sizeable margin but on average, customers on T-Mobile spend nearly 50% of their time on the carrier’s 5G network.
Reaching for the best 5G coverage

Read more
T-Mobile suffers massive data breach … again
The T-Mobile logo on a smartphone.

T-Mobile said on Thursday it has suffered a data breach involving 37 million customer accounts.

The mobile carrier discovered the breach on January 5 and took action “within 24 hours.”

Read more