AT & T more than doubles the cost of administration for each wireless client

AT & T increases the cost of an "administrative expense" item on the bottom of each of its 64.5 million wireless customers in the United States, as announced today by Walter Piecyk , badyst at BTIG Research. Originally $ 0.76, AT & T increased fees to $ 1.99. Once added and multiplied by 12 months, the increase will result in an additional $ 800 million for AT & T's annual revenues. According to Piecyk, fees should only apply to To standard and monthly customers, and not to prepaid AT & T users.

When we joined him for comment, an AT & T spokesperson confirmed the existence of increased fees. "This is a standard administrative fee in the wireless industry, which helps cover the costs we incur for the maintenance of cell sites and the interconnection between operators." "said the spokesman in a statement.

It is unclear exactly why AT & T feels the need to increase the amount of money it charges users without offering any tangible benefit to the consumer. And it's hard to read "cell-site maintenance and carrier interconnection" as a credible apology to generate nearly $ 1 billion in revenue from subscribers when AT & T just spent $ 85 billion to acquire Time Warner. Earlier this month, AT & T increased the price of its $ 5 million unlimited data plans, citing customers who "use mobile data at record levels" as the reason for the price increase.