Verizon’s latest phone plan change may drive away consumers

Verizon has precocious faced increasing challenges successful retaining customers arsenic contention successful the wireless marketplace intensifies.

The bearer has mislaid much than 2.25 cardinal customers implicit the past 3 years and has continued to set its telephone plans, including a caller alteration that could punctual consumers to look elsewhere for service.

In 2025, Verizon made respective cardinal pricing changes that frustrated customers. In February that year, Verizon raised prices for customers connected myPlan and New Verizon Plan accounts.

Also, Verizon Mobile Protect Multi-Device and Verizon Mobile Secure Multi-Device plans accrued by $8 the pursuing month. Later successful the year, the bearer raised its instrumentality activation interest from from $35 to $40, ended loyalty discounts, hiked its tablet plans by $5 to $10, and raised 2 cardinal billing fees.

More recently, successful March, Verizon revealed it would summation the monthly terms of its Netflix and HBO Max streaming bundle from $10 to $13, a alteration that took effect connected May 6.

After large pricing changes, Verizon CEO Dan Schulman vowed during an net telephone successful January to halt rolling retired “price increases without corresponding value” and enforce a “customer-obsessed culture” wrong the company.

Since then, Verizon’s wireless retail postpaid telephone churn, the percent of smartphone customers who ended their service, reached 0.97% during the archetypal 4th of 2026, according to its astir caller net report.

This is 2 ground points higher than the churn it reported for this conception during the aforesaid 4th past year.

Verizon rolls retired different terms increase

Despite caller lawsuit losses, Verizon has softly raised the terms of its Unlimited Ultimate plan, according to a caller study from Droid Life.

Before the terms increase, the program charged $80 per period for 1 line. Now, that monthly complaint has accrued by $5, careless of the fig of lines connected an relationship nether that plan. This alteration officially took effect connected May 7.

What’s besides raising eyebrows astir the terms summation is the information that Unlimited Ultimate includes a three-year price-lock guarantee. However, successful the good print, Verizon states that the warrant applies to “the then-current basal monthly rate” it charges erstwhile a lawsuit signs up for the plan.

Related: Verizon CEO doubles down connected removing escaped offers for customers

This means the terms summation applies lone to caller customers, which Verizon confirmed successful a connection to Droid Life.

The bearer besides clarified that the plans present see Identity Secure, an add-on that helps trim individuality theft, and Verizon Family Plus, which provides parental controls and different information tools for household accounts.

“Customers who subscribe to our caller Unlimited Ultimate program volition get entree to 2 caller features – Identity Secure and Verizon Family Plus – providing an further $15 successful added monthly worth for conscionable $5,” said Verizon successful the statement.

“These enhancements springiness customers adjacent much worth arsenic portion of their narration with Verizon, with information and household absorption tools present included successful our champion mobile plan. Existing customers presently connected our Unlimited Ultimate program volition not spot immoderate alteration to their monthly program price.”

Verizon’s latest determination could deter price-sensitive consumers

The determination from Verizon comes amid tougher contention from T-Mobile, AT&T, cablegram providers, and smaller carriers, including mobile virtual web operators (MVNOs), successful the wireless industry.

“The manufacture is seeing much competitory pressure, and the thirst for subscriber adds astatine T-Mobile and Verizon is starring the charge,” said Raymond James expert Frank Louthan successful a January study obtained by Investor’s Business Daily.

Verizon’s determination to rise prices could beryllium a risky move. The combat for user dollars successful the wireless manufacture has intensified implicit the past fewer years arsenic much Americans nationwide person exercised their powerfulness to power carriers successful effect to terms hikes.

In December, a survey from WhistleOut recovered that 42% of Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile customers saw their telephone bills summation successful the past year.

Also, 58% of these customers said they are considering switching to different carrier. All 3 carriers hazard losing 30 cardinal customers combined owed to precocious wireless program prices.

In effect to this displacement successful user behavior, much wireless carriers person been lowering their prices and doubling down connected worth to pull and clasp customers, according to caller information from CTIA.

How wireless prices person shifted for American consumers:

• Prices for unlimited wireless work plans declined by much than 10% successful 2025 and are down by 35% implicit the past 5 years.

• Prepaid program prices dipped by 2.6% past twelvemonth and are down by implicit 51% implicit the past 5 years.

• The terms per gigabyte of mobile information dropped by much than 21% past year.

• The Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows that the wide existent outgo of wireless work declined by 6.6% past year, bringing the decline implicit the past 10 years to implicit 41%.
  Source: CTIA

"Wireless is 1 of the large user occurrence stories of our time," said CTIA CEO Ajit Pai successful a property release. "Prices are down, speeds are up, and the worth Americans get from their wireless work has ne'er been greater.”

“That's the effect of a competitory marketplace and continued backstage concern successful world-class networks, and it's precisely wherefore policies that enactment infrastructure deployment, licensed spectrum access, and contention are truthful important."

Related: Verizon raises terms connected cardinal discounted connection for customers

This communicative was primitively published by TheStreet connected May 13, 2026, wherever it archetypal appeared successful the Retail section. Add TheStreet arsenic a Preferred Source by clicking here.