AT&T is adding $1.23 onto your wireless bill, which will make it an extra $800 million this year
- AT&T recently raised the price of its administrative fee for monthly AT&T wireless customers.
- The admin fee hike could bring in an extra $800 million annually for AT&T.
- The company said the admin fee helps cover the cost of cell maintenance and interconnection with other carriers.
AT&T has increased its admin fee from $0.76 to $1.99 for every AT&T monthly customer, according to BTIG Research analyst Walter Piecyk.
The admin fee hike will make AT&T an extra $800 million per year, according to Piecyk.
AT&T hadn't announced the admin fee hike to its customers from what we could tell, and it didn't really explain why it's doing so. Business Insider reached out to AT&T to ask about the company's reasoning behind the fee hike, but the company yet to respond. Speaking to The Verge, an AT&T spokesperson said that the admin fee is standard among other wireless carriers, and that it helps cover the costs of cell maintenance and interconnection between carriers.
While it may come as a minor sting to AT&T customers, the new higher admin fee isn't the highest we've seen. On my Verizon bill, for example, the administrative fee is $3.69 for a three-line account.
Carrier admin fees are part of the small line items you'd usually find at the bottom of your wireless bill among the surcharges.
Apart from the admin fee, AT&T also raised the price for those with grandfathered unlimited data plans in early June, according to Mac Rumors. Originally, the plan cost $30 per month. It was later raised to $40 per month, and most recently AT&T hiked the price up again to $45 per month.
AT&T also recently closed a massive deal to buy Time Warner for $85 billion.