Grandfathered AT&T Unlimited Plans Are Getting Another Price Increase

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AT&T this week began sending notifications to select grandfathered unlimited plan users, warning them of an impending price hike that’s expected to take effect this July.

In an official support article published to the carrier’s website, AT&T said it will once again be raising the price of its grandfathered unlimited plan by $5 per month, bringing the new total cost of unlimited data access to $45 per month, for customers who were previously paying $40. 

Several MacRumors readers have already received e-mail notifications concerning the price hike, a decision which AT&T said in its statement is necessary given the “record levels” of LTE data usage on its network.

“Consumers are using mobile data at record levels and the trend is expected to continue. To help make sure we continue to provide the best service for all of our customers, a small price increase is being made,” AT&T said in its statement. “Customers who have a grandfathered $40 data plan will receive notifications of a $5 per month rate increase for the data plan. The rate increase will take effect starting with the customer’s July, 2018 service.”

Worth pointing out is that this wouldn’t be the first time AT&T has jacked up the price of its unlimited plan for grandfathered customers — it’s actually the third-in-a-row.

Back in 2016 and 2017, AT&T announced similar price hikes of $5 per month for grandfathered customers, meaning its $30 per month plan went up to $35 in 2016, then $40 in 2017, and [effective July, 2018] $45.

AT&T is quick to mention that while the $5 per month price hike will take effect in July, customers shouldn’t expect any changes in their service or the company’s policies regarding the use of it.

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Ironically enough, AT&T also points out that customers who disagree with the new prices for whatever reason can contact AT&T support and change their plan to fit their needs.. Be warned, once grandfathered data plan customers decide to pull the plug, that’s it, there’s no going back and you’ll be forced to adhere to one of AT&T’s newer, more expensive tiered plans.

Additionally, AT&T now offers two new unlimited plan options, its “Unlimited Choice Enhanced” and “Unlimited Plus Enhanced” — the former of which starts at $65/month per line and goes up to $160 for 4-lines, and the latter, more premium service which runs $80/month per line (or up to $198 for 4-lines) and includes add-on services like HD streaming videos and mobile hotspot usage.

Seems like AT&T is once again trying to either purge its grandfathered plan customers altogether, or slowly but surely coax them into switching over to another plan.

Still, $45/month for unlimited 4G data is a good deal in the grand scheme of things.

Just remember that whether you’re paying $45, $65, or $80 for it, AT&T is going to start throttling your data speeds after you’ve burned through 22 gigs.

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