The upcoming billing cycle is about to get more expensive for long-term AT&T wireless phone plan customers. While the carrier is shifting its focus to newer “2.0” service tiers, those holding onto older unlimited contracts are being hit with a mandatory monthly surcharge starting this month. The logic behind the price jump feels inconsistent, as the specific dollar amount varies wildly across different generations of retired plans.

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.”

AT&T maintains that its new plans are priced competitively with other carriers’ plans and “better aligned with how our customers use our services.”

The changes apply only to wireless plans activated prior to July 24, 2025, according to the support note. That includes legacy plans, not just the recently discontinued plans that the 2.0 plans replace.

It also means if you signed up for the company’s previous AT&T Value Plus VL, Unlimited Starter SL, Unlimited Extra EL or Unlimited Premium PL plan in the last half of 2025, this increase won’t apply to you.

The increases make it worth comparing prices between holding onto an existing plan or switching to the new plans. For example, the first change makes the Premium 2.0 plan more appealing. When it was announced, the Premium 2.0 plan was more expensive than the older Unlimited Premium PL plan: $90 a month for a single line instead of $86, or $220 for four lines instead of $204. With the new price increase, keeping the Unlimited Premium PL plan will cost $96 a month for a single line and $240 a month for four lines.

AT&T isn’t the only one to change its plan pricing in the last few months. After Verizon replaced its CEO, it dropped prices across the board to be more competitive. And T-Mobile introduced a new limited-time Better Value plan priced similarly to its Experience More plan but with more perks intended to appeal to families.

If AT&T’s increases prompt you to shop around, we have recommendations for the best cellphone plan and the best unlimited data plan, as well as a comparison of AT&T and Verizon plans.