T-Mobile has avoided rate hikes for older plans the last few years, but that’s now set to change.
The note doesn’t list which plans are affected, but Freier specifically says that those on the carrier’s latest assortment of Go5G plans will not see their prices increase.
Freier says in the memo that T-Mobile is raising prices on older plans “for the first time in nearly a decade” and that the increases are designed to “keep up with rising inflation and costs.”
The note says that it will affect a “small portion” of T-Mobile’s customers.
The plans that were included with last year’s experimental migration included T-Mobile’s older One, Simple Choice, Magenta and Magenta 55 Plus options.
That period ended last year and the carrier has since introduced its Go5G assortment of plans: Go5G, Go5G Plus and Go5G Next.
AT&T raised rates for its latest plans by 99 cents earlier this year and has gone through other rate increases for older plans.
Verizon has similarly gone through a bevy of price increases for its plans, most recently for those who were still on its older 5G Get More, Do More, Play More and Start plans in February after raising rates on some of its older unlimited plans last summer while also adding in new fees for other, older plans last year.
Rate increases for older plans have been avoided by T-Mobile over the past few years, but this is about to change. The company says it will begin notifying some customers whose charges will increase on Wednesday, beginning with their June or July bills, in a memo sent to staff that CNET was able to obtain.
Jon Freier, the head of T-Mobile’s customer group, sent out the memo. Plans that are impacted are not listed in the note, but Freier makes it clear that customers on the carrier’s most recent lineup of Go5G plans won’t see price increases. He claims that T-Mobile’s Price Lock guarantee will still be in place for the “millions of customers” who are covered by it.
As stated in the memo, T-Mobile is planning to “keep up with rising costs and inflation” by increasing the prices of its older plans “for the first time in nearly a decade.” Freier attributes the reasoning for the price increases. “.
The precise number of people impacted by the change is unknown. According to the note, only a “small portion” of T-Mobile’s customer base will be impacted.
Continue reading: The top cell phone plans according to us.
On Wednesday, the business plans to inform every impacted customer. Last year, T-Mobile attempted to switch some of its older, typically less expensive plans’ users to some of its more recent, more expensive ones, but it later abandoned the plan in response to criticism. However, a source familiar with T-Mobile’s plans tells CNET that with this new rate hike, customers won’t have the option to call the company’s support line and overturn the change, unlike with the previous move.
It will not be possible for those impacted by the price increase to opt out of the increase; instead, they can call to switch to one of T-Mobile’s more recent plans. One, Simple Choice, Magenta, and Magenta 55 Plus, which were T-Mobile’s older plan options, were included in last year’s experimental migration.
The corporation has been talking about raising prices more and more, which coincides with the announcement of the price increase. T-Mobile’s Chief Financial Officer, Peter Osvaldik, made a hint about a price increase just last week at the Moffett-Nathanson Media and Communications Conference. At the time, he gave no information away.
increased costs following the Sprint merger.
T-Mobile was legally obligated to refrain from raising prices for three years following its 2020 merger with Sprint. Since then, the carrier has unveiled its Go5G lineup of plans, which includes Go5G, Go5G Plus, and Go5G Next. That period concluded last year. Although these plans offer some additional features, their cost is higher than that of T-Mobile’s previous plans. Though some of these plans (specifically the Magentas) are hidden on the company’s website and require a phone call or chat with T-Mobile support to enroll in, the carrier still lets new users sign up for older, less expensive plans like Magenta, Magenta Max, and Essentials.
It takes visiting T-Mobile’s plan page, selecting “see more available plans,” and then selecting a link to “learn more about Magenta and Magenta Max plans” even just to find the Magenta and Magenta Max options available today. “.
Since T-Mobile and Sprint merged, the US wireless market has grown to be “one of the most expensive mobile markets in the world,” according to a recent report by Finland-based research firm Rewheel, which Light Reading noticed. “.
T-Mobile’s competitors have increased their plans several times over the past few years, despite this being the company’s first price increase. In addition to increasing rates for older plans, AT&T increased rates for its most recent plans by 99 cents earlier this year.
In a similar vein, Verizon has increased the prices of a number of its plans. The most recent increase was made in February for customers who were still on the company’s older 5G Get More, Do More, Play More, and Start plans. Prior to that, the company had increased the rates on a few of its older unlimited plans last summer and added new fees for other, older plans last year.
