Verizon hasn't learned from its mistakes. | Image by AKQA
Everyone has been waiting for Verizon to initiate a price war since new CEO Dan Schulman took over after three consecutive quarters of customer losses. Verizon initially focused on deals to lure customers away from rivals. Then, during the Q4 2025 earnings call, the CEO teased a new value proposition. While that hasn't materialized yet, the company does have a nasty surprise for customers.
New customers pay more
Verizon retires a plan it introduced last year. | Image by Verizon
Verizon has grandfathered the top-tier Unlimited Ultimate plan it announced last year and rebranded it as Unlimited Ultimate 1.0. That plan launched at $80 per month for one line with a three-year price lock pledge.
Verizon increased the price by $5 to $85, as first discovered byDroid Life.
Unlimited Ultimate new vs old price. | Image by Verizon
If you already had Unlimited Ultimate 1.0 on or before May 7, your rate remains unchanged. The new rate only applies to new customers or existing customers switching to Unlimited Ultimate.
Maybe it's not all that bad?
While the core service hasn't improved, you do get Verizon Family Plus and Identity Secure now. Family Plus is a $10/month add-on with digital wellness and safety tools to help parents manage a family account.
Identity Secure costs $5 per month and aims to prevent identity theft.
That's a $15 value, and if you factor in the perks, Verizon actually saved you $10.
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What does this move signal?
Who requested this?
Carriers love downplaying price hikes by pointing to baked-in benefits that previously weren't there. However, the increasing number of consumers choosing cable instead of the Big 3 indicates that customers don't want to pay for extras.
While Verizon is trying to soften the blow with these superfluous perks, this is still a price hike.
A new playbook
Verizon added fewer subscribers than its peers in Q1, AT&T had the highest churn rate, and T-Mobile's growth slowed.
In this climate, carriers are getting creative about how they present price increases. T-Mobile also recently increased rates for a service while giving customers more data. In another case, it removed a data bucket, decreased the starting price, and removed the price lock.
The bottom line is that carriers seem to be doing anything but decreasing the absolute cost of service. In most cases, there are direct and indirect increases.
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Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.
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