That Small Fee on Your AT&T Bill Is About to Get Bigger
Phone bills have a sneaky way of getting more and more complicated over time. People don’t even need to upgrade our devices, add another line, or change our plans. Somehow, a fee that’s been buried in the fine print gets a little larger year after year.
That’s what’s about to happen for some AT&T customers. On August 5, the company is increasing its monthly Administrative & Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee from $3.99 to $4.99 per phone line.
While one dollar may not sound dramatic, on a family plan with four lines, this AT&T fee increase could add $4 to the monthly bill, or $48 over the course of a year.
How Much Is the Fee Increasing?
AT&T currently charges $3.99 per line each month for its Administrative & Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee. When that increases on August 5, here’s what that could look like in the course of a year:
One Line: $12 more
Two Lines: $24 more
Three Lines: $36 more
Four Lines: $48 more
Five Lines: $60 more
Since the increase applies per line, rather than per account, families with several phones may notice that change on their AT&T phone bill.
What Is This Fee Supposed to Cover?
An Administrative and Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee sounds like it belongs in a filing cabinet somewhere.
In plain English, AT&T says the fee covers the expenses required to connect calls to other carriers, along with cell-site rent and maintenance. The regulatory portion also helps them recover costs for government requirements, including:
Emergency Calling Systems
Number Portability
Outage Reporting
Other Compliance Obligations
Is It a Government Tax?
No. AT&T’s own terms say its administrative and regulatory recovery charges aren’t taxes or government-mandated fees.
They’re company-imposed charges used to help recover certain business and compliance costs.
Will Everyone’s Bill Increase by the Same Amount?
Because the fee is assessed per line, the total change depends on how many eligible lines are attached to an account.
Someone with one phone line may barely notice another dollar. But, if you’re running a larger household, you could see several dollars added to your monthly wireless phone bill.
Taxes and other charges can also vary, based on location and service. So, the final amount due might look different from one customer to another.
Can Customers Avoid the Increase?
AT&T’s fee schedule doesn’t list a way to opt out while keeping an affected wireless line.
If you’re a customer, you can review your current bills and plans, but the new charge will take effect automatically on August 5.
One Dollar at a Time
A $1 increase probably won’t prompt someone to switch their cell phone provider.
Still, monthly bills rarely become expensive through one enormous leap. They tend to climb in smaller increments that are easy to overlook until you compare this month's total with last month's.
In this instance, at least AT&T's fee increase comes with plenty of notice.
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