AT&T doubles the admin fee for wireless customers

AT&T is increasing the cost of “Administrative fee” which is a line item at the bottom of every single one of its 64.5 million wireless customers in the United States, according to the report by BTIC Research Analyst Walter Piecyk.

From $0.76, the company has increased the cost of the fee to $1.99 when multiplied by 12, the rise will add $800 million more on AT&T’s annual revenue. The fee, however, should only be applied to monthly customers and not to prepaid AT&T customers, Piecyk said.

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According to the spokesperson AT&T, the fees were increased by the company, he confirmed. He also explains the fees were across the wireless industry and are standard administrative costs, the fees increased was to help the company cover its costs such as cell site maintenance and the connection between carriers.

“$1.23 Increase per customer will add $800 million extra annual revenue to the company’s account”

It is not clear why AT&T has jacked up its prices for no obvious reason without even offering tangible benefits to its customers. The company’s excuse to cover the costs of cell site maintenance and interconnection between the carriers seems illogical while generating nearly $1 billion extra from existing subscribers.

AT&T has acquired Time Warner in an $85 billion deal as well, showing the company did not have any problems raising money, retaining profits and securing investments. AT&T has also raised the price of its grandfathered unlimited data plans by adding $5 and claiming that users have used up record data, to justify the price increase.