Bellevue, Washington – T-Mobile customers on older plans are in for a surprise as the company announces its first price hike in nearly a decade. In a recent memo to employees, T-Mobile revealed that some customers will see their charges increase starting with their June or July bills.
According to Jon Freier, president of T-Mobile’s consumer group, the price hike will not affect customers on the carrier’s latest Go5G plans or those covered by the Price Lock guarantee. The company attributes the increases to rising inflation and costs.
While the exact number of affected customers is unknown, a “small portion” of T-Mobile’s customer base will be impacted by the change. Customers can expect notifications this Wednesday regarding the upcoming rate adjustments.
Last year, T-Mobile faced backlash when attempting to move customers on older, more affordable plans to newer, pricier ones. However, this time around, customers will not have the option to opt-out of the rate hike. They can, however, call T-Mobile to switch to newer available plans.
The price hike follows T-Mobile’s completion of its merger with Sprint in 2020, as the carrier was legally bound to not raise prices for three years. With the introduction of the Go5G plans, T-Mobile now offers new features at a higher price point compared to its previous offerings.
According to a report by Finland-based research firm Rewheel, since the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, the US wireless market has become one of the most expensive in the world. While T-Mobile’s rivals, such as AT&T and Verizon, have also implemented multiple price increases in recent years.
With T-Mobile’s latest move to raise prices on older plans, customers may soon find themselves considering switching to newer, more expensive wireless plans amidst a trend in the industry of increasing rates.