Verizon just announced a three-year price lock in April, but now the company has confirmed that it’s “making some adjustments” that will raise the cost of your phone bill anyway. In a statement to The Verge, Verizon spokesperson Adria Tomaszewski says the “vast majority” of customers will see a price hike of “less than 30 cents.”
Tomaszewski doesn’t say exactly what’s changing, but a Reddit thread spotted by PhoneArena suggests that Verizon plans on raising several of its fees, including its “Administrative and Telco Recovery Charge,” which is supposed to help the carrier pay for “direct and indirect” costs like property tax. Verizon last raised the price of this fee last year.
The Reddit post claims that Verizon’s Administrative and Telco Recovery Charge will increase 28 cents to $3.78 per voice line, while the charge for data-only plans could increase by $2.37, reaching $3.97 per line. It also shows Verizon’s Regulatory Charge — a fee the company says covers “various government charges” — increasing from 19 cents to 21 cents per voice line. These changes could go into effect on September 1st, according to the Reddit post.
The Verge reached out to Tomaszewski to confirm the details in this thread, and we’ll update this article if we hear back. “These adjustments are in line with market rates and allow us to continue to provide top-tier products and services,” Tomaszewski says.
Verizon’s three-year price lock might not allow it to change the price of your plan directly, but, as my colleague Allison Johnson pointed out, it leaves “plenty of wiggle room” for it to raise fees and taxes. The price-lock guarantee is also only available to customers on a newer myPlan subscription.
But that’s not all — Verizon has also raised the price of its device activation fee from $35 to $40, as shown on its website, and the Reddit post claims Verizon is raising the price of its tablet data plans by $5 / month as well.