AT&T has rapidly lost phone customers as rivals ramp up deals and discounts on wireless services. Amid these challenges, the carrier recently warned customers of a major change to its wireless plans, sparking backlash and putting the company at risk of additional losses.

Last year, Verizon and AT&T doubled down on device promotions and free line offers to lure and retain customers amid elevated switching behavior in the wireless market.

More consumers have been searching for lower phone plan prices amid economic uncertainty, even exploring wireless service from nontraditional providers such as mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) and cable TV/internet companies.

Amid shifting customer behavior, recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data found that wireless service prices have decreased over the past year.

“It’s a perfect storm in wireless right now, and for a change, it’s the consumer that is benefiting,” said MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett, in a statement to The Washington Post in December.

As competition heats up, AT&T’s postpaid phone churn (the percentage of customers who cut their phone service) hit 0.98% in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from 0.85% in the same quarter a year earlier, according to the company’s most recent earnings report.

Also, 255,000 prepaid phone customers ended their service during the quarter, raising churn in that segment to 2.89%, up 16 percentage points year over year.

The losses come after AT&T decreased and restricted its autopay discount for some customers in April last year, a change that sparked backlash. In December, it also hiked a key fee that customers pay for on their monthly bills.

The carrier has also been receiving criticism for allegedly bait-and-switching customers by hitting them with larger-than-anticipated monthly bills after getting them to switch from rivals with generous discounts.

Despite facing higher churn, AT&T has decided to raise its wireless plan prices. In a new message on its website, the carrier warns customers that prices for “retired unlimited plans” will increase in April. These are wireless plans that were active before July 24, 2025.

AT&T customers who have a single phone line on one of these plans will see their monthly price increase by $10. Those with multiple phone lines will be hit with a $20 price hike (this will be the total monthly increase, not per line).

AT&T said that these price increases will help it “continue providing reliable network service, quality products, and great customer experiences.”

Related: AT&T rolls out major upgrade for customers, challenging T-Mobile

To lessen the blow of the price hikes, it is adding an extra 20GB of hotspot data per month to these older phone plans.

The move from AT&T comes after it introduced three new phone plans earlier this month, which include AT&T Value 2.0, AT&T Extra 2.0 and AT&T Premium 2.0. In a press release, the carrier states that customers can get “real value” with this new lineup, “without having to choose the highest-priced plan.”

AT&T advertised these new plans in its price-hike announcement, hinting that the change is the carrier’s way of encouraging customers to upgrade.

In a statement to TheStreet, RTMNexus CEO Dominick Miserandino said that AT&T’s latest price increase is “a massive gamble.”

“AT&T is playing a high-stakes game of chicken with its own customers,” said Miserandino. “Raising prices while you’re already fighting record churn is a massive gamble. They are basically trying to tax the customers who are too busy to switch plans.”

Some AT&T customers are already contemplating jumping ship from the company, as many took to social media platform Reddit to express irritation over the change.

“I'm very upset. This week they roll out new plans, then 2 days later they screw longtime customers by jacking up our rates, AND then cut the discount to public sector workers (health/teachers/etc), I may finally move to Visible+ Pro in protest,” wrote one AT&T customer.

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“Might finally be time to switch to T-Mobile or an mvno,” wrote another.

“With 4 lines it will be a $20 increase! That’s insane. I’ve been with ATT forever, but guess I will need to start looking at alternatives,” wrote another AT&T customer.

Frustrating customers is the last thing AT&T needs. Last year, a WhistleOut survey found that the carrier is already at risk of losing millions of customers due to high mobile plan prices.

Consumers pay around $80 per monthfora single line on an AT&T phone plan.

By comparison, MVNO customers spend roughly $44 per month for a single line.

About 42% of customers across AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon report that their monthly billshave spiked over the past year, which is 7% higher than average.

Rising costs are pushing 58% of these customers to think about switchingcarriers.

Around 34% say they are considering joining an MVNO in the near future.

Elevated mobile plan prices could cause AT&T to lose69.4 million customers.  Source: WhistleOut

Related: T-Mobile angers customers as it quietly expands major device fee

This story was originally published by TheStreet on Mar 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the Retail section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.