Is Your Verizon Bill Going Up? The Carrier Is Increasing Its Administrative Fees on Dec. 18

Verizon is increasing some of its fees yet again. The carrier has confirmed to CNET that its “Administrative and Telco Recovery Charge” will go up by 20 cents per line later this month. 

“Starting December 18, the monthly Verizon wireless Administrative and Telco Recovery Charge will increase by $0.20 per line for mobile voice (basic phones, Second Number, smartphones, etc.) and data-only (hotspots, tablets, etc.) products,” Verizon spokesperson George Koroneos confirmed in a statement. He added that “Verizon Home Internet services are not affected” by the increase. 

News of the fee hike was first spotted on Reddit and by outlets like Android Police. 

According to a Verizon support page, the Administrative and Telco Recovery Charge helps the carrier “defray and recover certain direct and indirect costs” including property taxes, “regulatory and industry obligations and programs” like “enhanced 911” (which can automatically include the location when placing emergency calls) as well as “costs associated with our network, including facilities (e.g. leases), operations, maintenance and protection, and costs paid to other companies for network services.” 

Read more: Our Picks for the Best Phone Plans

At 20 cents per line, per month, this fee increase isn’t the largest the carrier has made in recent years, but it all adds up. In 2022, it hiked the administrative fee from $1.35 per voice line to the $3.30 rate it was charging until recently. With the new increase, that fee will now be $3.50 per voice line while data lines — like those for tablets or hotspots — will now see administrative fees of $1.60 per line, per month.  

Price hikes have become increasingly common across the major wireless carriers of late. In January, AT&T upped the price of its unlimited plans by 99 cents per line, while in March, Verizon raised prices for those on some of its older unlimited plans plans in a bid to push users towards some of its newer offerings. In June, T-Mobile raised some of its rates on older plans in a similar effort to move those users to newer plans.