---
title: AT&T Just Upgraded its Upgrade Fee to $20, Matching Verizon
description: AT&T's fee was $15, but after Verizon raised its fee to $20, AT&T followed suit.
authors:
  - name: ewolffmanntime
    url: https://money.com/author/ewolffmanntime/
    former_staff: true
published: '2016-04-07T21:09:26.000Z'
modified: '2024-04-16T10:34:09.000Z'
section: Shopping
tags:
  - AT&T
  - cell phone
  - pubdesk
  - Verizon
word_count: 221
canonical: https://money.com/new-att-20-upgrade-fee-verizon/
type: Article
source: structured-blocks
---

> **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/).

![Inside An AT&T Inc. Store Ahead Of Earnings Figures](https://img.money.com/2016/04/gettyimages-470567140.jpg)

At the end of March, [MacRumors](http://www.macrumors.com/2016/03/31/verizon-20-dollar-smartphone-upgrade-fee/) reported that Verizon was going to introduce a [$20 upgrade fee](http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/upgrade-fee-faqs/) that you are required to pay when you upgrade your old phone to a new phone. This is on top of the standard $40 upgrade fee that you must pay if you purchase the phone on a two-year contract.

Now AT&T [has raised its upgrade fee](http://www.att.com/esupport/article.html?partner=LinkShare&siteId=TnL5HPStwNw-Q3Wi5fnvxZ609vQLkFkpNw#!/wireless/KM1008601) from $15 to $20, following Verizon.

Like Verizon, AT&T charges the $20 upgrade fee *in addition* to the $45 fee you must pay to activate a phone for a two-year agreement. However, if you purchase your phone through AT&T at full price, it's possible that you may not have to pay the $20. We've reached out to AT&T for clarification.

The new charge is not being well received; Dan Seifert of The Verge called it "[excessive and borderline extortion](http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/7/11388430/att-upgrade-fee-increase)." Its timing also raised a few eyebrows on Twitter.

<!-- omitted unsupported block: embed-twitter -->

The new fees shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone; the two companies have shadowed each other for years and have a take-no-prisoners attitude when it comes to fees. For example, Verizon–and probably AT&T—will send you an email by default if you reach your data limit, and that email trip the hair 0.001 MB hair trigger of data, [pushing you over into a $15 charge](https://money.com/verizon-data-overage-alert-email/). Well, $15 for now.

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
      "@id": "https://money.com/new-att-20-upgrade-fee-verizon/#breadcrumb",
      "itemListElement": [
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 1,
          "name": "Home",
          "item": "https://money.com"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 2,
          "name": "Shopping",
          "item": "https://money.com/shopping/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 3,
          "name": "Phones and Tablets",
          "item": "https://money.com/phones-and-tablets/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 4,
          "name": "AT&amp;T Just Upgraded its Upgrade Fee to $20, Matching Verizon"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebSite",
      "@id": "https://money.com/#website",
      "url": "https://money.com",
      "name": "Money",
      "publisher": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/#organization"
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "@id": "https://money.com/new-att-20-upgrade-fee-verizon/#webpage",
      "url": "https://money.com/new-att-20-upgrade-fee-verizon/",
      "name": "AT&amp;T Just Upgraded its Upgrade Fee to $20, Matching Verizon",
      "isPartOf": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/#website"
      },
      "datePublished": "2016-04-07T21:09:26.000Z",
      "mainEntity": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/new-att-20-upgrade-fee-verizon/"
      },
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "breadcrumb": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/new-att-20-upgrade-fee-verizon/#breadcrumb"
      },
      "dateModified": "2024-04-16T10:34:09.000Z"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Article",
      "headline": "AT&amp;T Just Upgraded its Upgrade Fee to $20, Matching Verizon",
      "articleSection": "Shopping",
      "image": [
        {
          "@type": "ImageObject",
          "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/04/gettyimages-470567140.jpg",
          "width": 4000,
          "height": 2667,
          "caption": "Inside An AT&amp;T Inc. Store Ahead Of Earnings Figures"
        }
      ],
      "author": [
        {
          "@type": "Person",
          "name": "ewolffmanntime",
          "url": "https://money.com/author/ewolffmanntime/",
          "@id": "https://money.com/author/ewolffmanntime/#author"
        }
      ],
      "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization",
      "datePublished": "2016-04-07T21:09:26.000Z",
      "description": "AT&amp;T's fee was $15, but after Verizon raised its fee to $20, AT&amp;T followed suit.",
      "abstract": "AT&amp;T's fee was $15, but after Verizon raised its fee to $20, AT&amp;T followed suit.",
      "@id": "https://money.com/new-att-20-upgrade-fee-verizon/",
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "dateModified": "2024-04-16T10:34:09.000Z",
      "wordCount": 221,
      "keywords": [
        "AT&amp;T",
        "cell phone",
        "pubdesk",
        "Verizon"
      ],
      "about": [
        {
          "@type": "Thing",
          "name": "Shopping",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping"
          ]
        },
        {
          "@type": "Thing",
          "name": "Tablet computer",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablet_computer"
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```