GoKawiilApril brings spring showers...and a price increase for anyone still on legacy AT&T unlimited wireless phone plans. However, the amount depends on which plans you have, and it's not entirely clear how AT&T is calculating it.
On a support page that went live when it announced its revamped "2.0" unlimited phone plans, the carrier revealed that the prices of its "retired" unlimited wireless plans -- the ones customers who haven't upgraded are still using -- will go up by as much as $20 starting in April.
AT&T is implementing two price changes. If your account with a "retired" plan has a single line, the price goes up $10. If you have two or more lines on an account, the price increase is capped at $20 for the account.
Perhaps to offset the sting, affected plans will get an extra 20GB of high-speed hotspot data each month.
However, not everyone is seeing the same deal.
As an AT&T mobile plan subscriber myself, when I signed into my own AT&T account to compare options, I was directed to a different support page that says prices are going up $5 per smartphone line. For hotspot, AT&T is adding 10GB of extra high-speed data -- presumably to each line, but that's not specified. This page doesn't refer to "retired" lines, only stating, "Monthly charges for your unlimited plan will increase beginning April 2026."
I've reached out to the company for clarification about which plans get which increases. AT&T maintains a list of retired plans, which include unlimited plans going back to 2016. On my account, I have an older Unlimited Elite (retired in 2022), Unlimited Extra EL (retired March 2026) and Unlimited Starter SL (also retired March 2026). So it's not clear why my combination of retired plans would warrant the smaller increase.
I also discovered a third support article that applies to customers on retired Mobile Share plans. If your plan includes less than 6GB of data, the price is increasing $5 a month. If it's a plan with more than 6GB a month, the price goes up $10 a month.
As for why the prices are going up, AT&T's support pages read, "This change helps us continue providing reliable network service, quality products, and great customer experiences."
In an earlier statement to CNET, an AT&T spokesperson said, "We recognize that any price increase matters to our customers and their budgets. This increase reflects the real cost of continuing to deliver the speed, reliability, and support our customers expect every day."
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