Your Carrier’s Price Lock Guarantee is Meaningless

The big pitch from US wireless carriers throughout 2025 was that by switching to their newest and most expensive plans, they would lock your plan price for the next however many years. T-Mobile went with a 5-year price lock, while Verizon decided that 3 years was enough. AT&T never did make a promise, although I wouldn’t be surprised if they make that move at some point. Even prepaid offerings are starting to have price locks.

But look, having a price lock or price guarantee from your wireless carrier does not mean for a second that your monthly bill will not increase at some point. I bring this up after T-Mobile increased a fee earlier this week for the second time in less than a year. That increase directly impacts the plans under their 5-year price lock.

Verizon, on the other hand, announced its 3-year price lock in April of 2025 and then started tweaking fees upwards by August. They increased a similar fee to T-Mobile, raised the price on device activation fees, and then temporarily ripped away everyone’s loyalty discounts before promptly bringing them back after backlash.

AT&T recently increased an identical fee as well, but again, they’ve never committed to a price lock.

There are other ways for your bills to go up too. Do you bundle streaming services with your plan or take advantage of things like T-Mobile’s “On Us” promotions? Those prices can increase at any time. For example, T-Mobile was including Apple TV subscriptions with its top plans, including its newest, but because of a price increase from Apple, T-Mobile is moving that increase onto your bill at $3/mo. Verizon made a similar move with the Disney+ bundle last year.

There’s also just this understanding that the minute your 3-year or 5-year guarantee is up that your price is almost guaranteed to go up. These carriers aren’t making that promise to just leave you there. If anything, they’ll have introduced new plans just prior to the price lock ending and will then do whatever they can to get you to switch over, even if that plan is somehow worse.

In short, your wireless carrier might have promised a price lock on your wireless plan, but your monthly bill is still going to go up.