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AT&T to increase price of grandfathered unlimited plans in February (Updated)

AT&T subscribers who previously had unlimited data plans back in the iPhone 3G era and have managed to hang onto that plan are in for their first price increase in seven years, a source with knowledge of the matter has informed 9to5Mac.

Update: AT&T has now publicly announced the change. Additional information has been added below.

The price jump won’t be huge—the almost-too-good-to-be-true rate of $30 will increase to just $35—but it does open the door to further tinkering later down the line, which may make some customers a little uneasy. The change will go into effect in February 2016.

As is currently the case, talk and text costs will be separate from the data fee. Throttling thresholds will also remain unchanged, giving customers 22 GB of high-speed data before the slow-down kicks in.

For users who aren’t pleased with the new fare, AT&T has confirmed that it will allow customers to end their contract with no early termination fee within 60 days of the price increase.

For comparison, T-Mobile recently raised its own unlimited data price for new customers (but not existing ones) along with the announcement of its “Un-carrier X” offer, though that was a much larger jump of $15. Verizon also updated its own unlimited plan recently with a $20 price hike for all subscribers, making AT&T’s increase the most “generous” of the bunch.

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Comments

  1. srgmac - 8 years ago

    What? I have the Verizon unlimited plan, I didn’t get a 20$ price increase…That F’ing SUCKS…What the hell how can they do that!!! OMG :( I’m super depressed now…damn man.

    • kpom1 - 8 years ago

      @srgmac, are you on contract with Verizon? If so, then the price increase happens when the contract runs out. For everyone else, the new rate kicked in 11/15.

  2. sulaymanf - 8 years ago

    AT&T, I see you don’t value customer loyalty. Despite the iPhone on Verizon, despite your poor service in NYC for years, I held on, but this is the last straw, so as soon as it makes sense to switch, I’m dumping you.

    • Mike Beasley - 8 years ago

      To be fair, this $5 increase is still going to make the grandfathered deal a better offer than what the other carriers have these days, so I don’t really foresee a time when it makes sense to switch from that.

    • japaneseravenlonewolf - 8 years ago

      It’s only $5, and they do value customer loyalty. I recently was given unlimited minutes along with my unlimited grandfathered data, because I am a long standing customer. Granted, this is as long as I keep my current calling plan, but I’m not going to quit over a slim $5. If you want to complain about something, cry over the added fees and taxes on your bill. It’s amazing how much they add up to, and $5 is ruining your day? You probably spend ten times that amount in junk food, soda and fast food alone.

      As far as the service you say you are getting, consider the location you are in. Cutting your nose off to spite your face only damages you in the long run.

  3. Matti Melander - 8 years ago

    It’s good to live on Finland, 15€ (~14$)/month and I get unlimited everything. Including data!

  4. louiethelug72 - 8 years ago

    I would Like the Choice of Hot spotting my WiFi iPad , but we all know that won’t happen,,,, Plus i’m still only getting 2 to 3 mbps which works but works slowly… AT&T Lie so bad… They say they don’t throttle any Grandfathered Unlimited…. I Call BULLSHIT on that… I Use to get 22 to 28 mbps many years ago… But NO More…

    • Peter Hillman - 8 years ago

      Too bad for you. AT&T never said they did not throttle grandfathered unlimited plans. People like you obviously slow down their network as a data hog. I have free hot spot with AT&T and rollover data to the following month. Maybe you should switch to a current, better plan, rather than their outdated unlimited data plan.

  5. kpom1 - 8 years ago

    After Verizon upped their rates, I re-upped with AT&T for another 2 years figuring they would do the same, so I’m good until November 2017. $35 is still better than $50, though.

  6. ccmarsig - 8 years ago

    If they do this while I’m still on contract for another two years, it would be awesome…my contract would be void and I could take my phone somewhere else.

  7. Michael Constantin - 8 years ago

    You can’t call AT&T the most generous of the bunch, because AT&T’s unlimited is grandfathered. T-Mobile’s EXISTING unlimited was hiked up $15, but people who still have unlimited at $20 are still only paying $20.

  8. I’m out. Grandfathered in since the original iPhone. AT&T was late with FaceTime, and still won’t let me tether, even though my wallet is open and I’m ready to pay for it.

    T-Mobile, here I come!

  9. TechSHIZZLE.com - 8 years ago

    My understanding is that the unlimited iPad plan was never throttled (only iPhone plans). Hope this continues as I am using the unlimited iPad plan on my iPad Pro…

  10. standardpull - 8 years ago

    Yahoo! Just re-contracted, along with the spouse for our old plan. Now we’ll cut loose and save over $800 at the same time. Bye bye AT&T!

  11. Michael Giovinco - 8 years ago

    How can they raise the price of my plan?? I have a two-year contract!! Really angry about this!