AT&T adds 'administrative fee' to wireless bills

[(Spork)]

AT&T has introduced a new "Mobility Administrative Fee" to its postpaid contracts. The $0.61 monthly fee ($7.32 per year) is being categorized "below the line" alongside tax and fees as an administrative surcharge. The fee came into effect on May 1st, and applies to all consumer contracts as well as "IRU" business contracts (business accounts where the user pays the bill).

It's a small charge for the individual consumers, but given that AT&T's postpaid subscriber base stands at over 70 million, the move will net AT&T hundreds of millions of dollars ? somewhere around half a billion dollars, in fact. That's a lot of extra revenue from one little charge.

AT&T tells us that the administrative fee will "help cover certain expenses, such as interconnection and cell site rents and maintenance." It also added that the charge is "consistent with similar fees charged by other carriers." While it's true that both Verizon and Sprint actually have higher administrative line charges ? T-Mobile bundles any administrative fees in with regulatory charges, so it's difficult to tell ? that's not likely to be much consolation for AT&T customers

http://www.theverge....inistrative-fee

i do believe this is grounds to get out of your contract since it changes the amount you agreed to pay when you singed the contract

[techbeck]

Had AT&T back in the early 2000s for a short while. Never will have them as a provider again.

[Roger H. Veteran]

Yeah saw this on The Verge earlier, an extra ~$8 a year is not a big deal to almost anyone but AT&T will be racking up TONS more money. An extra ~$600 Million in "administrative fees" is totally crazy. :crazy:

I guess this is why CEOs get the big bugs, gotta figure out ways to milk more money from customers!

[V-Tech]

Yeah saw this on The Verge earlier, an extra ~$8 a year is not a big deal to almost anyone but AT&T will be racking up TONS more money. An extra ~$600 Million in "administrative fees" is totally crazy. :crazy:

I guess this is why CEOs get the big bugs, gotta figure out ways to milk more money from customers!

Ye, companies find lot of different ways to make money.

I used to live in a country where the gov passed a law where the companies are not allowed to sign you for contracts that gets you stuck with companies for years. So instead of that the companies started charging you big $$$ for installation at your home (cable).

[Melfster]

I think it is a bigger deal then you think it is If companies start see that this transaction fee works they are going to be doing it all over the place because they can get away with it.

[M_Lyons10]

Very interesting. These cell companies are ridiculous. I would love them to have some oversight (Instead, the government focuses on industries and companies that don't demand it...).

[LittleNeutrino Veteran]

so far as i am concerned if you are still set in your ways that you want to receive a paper bill then you should be charged a bit for a handling fee as a deterrent to try to get your billing to be automated and online. or just call in and post your bill via phone. Here where I work They insist on receiving the Verizon Wireless bill in Paper Form, it does not come in an envelope, it comes in 4 boxes. each one costing around $25 to ship to us, because our bill is several thousand pages long.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

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