T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T price locks side by side: what each one fixes, what it excludes, and why the 2026 fee increases still reached locked lines

T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T each sell some form of price promise, and none of them fixes taxes, fees or surcharges. T-Mobile's 5-Year Price Guarantee covers the monthly price of talk, text and 5G data. Verizon's 3-year price guarantee on myPlan is not included for enrollments on or after June 16, 2026. AT&T's only price lock we found is on one AT&T PREPAID plan. That is why T-Mobile's fee rise on October 12, 2026 and Verizon's on November 15, 2026 reach price-locked lines on plans that bill fees separately.

Figures above were read from T-Mobile's Price Lock FAQs and support pages, Verizon's support FAQs, Important Plan Information and Prepaid page, and AT&T's prepaid plan terms and AT&T Guarantee page on 2026-10-17. The $4.49 is as reported by Droid Life. See sources.

Every price promise, side by side

This table lists the price promises each carrier describes on its own pages for phone plans, with the length, what is fixed, what is left out, and what ends the promise. The exclusions and the ways a promise ends follow each carrier's wording.

T-Mobile: three promises, depending on when the account started

T-Mobile's FAQ groups its promises by activation date. Accounts opened before April 28, 2022 have the Un-contract Promise. Accounts opened from April 28, 2022 to January 17, 2024 have what T-Mobile now calls the Original Price Lock. Customers who activated or switched to an eligible plan from January 18, 2024 to April 22, 2025 have the Last Month Price Lock. Since April 23, 2025, new Experience plan accounts get the 5-Year Price Guarantee.

On fees, the FAQ is short: "Taxes and fees are not covered by 5-Year Price Guarantee, Price Lock, or Un-contract." For the newest promise it lists more: "The 5-Year Price Guarantee excludes taxes/fees, per-use charges, plan add-ons, third-party services (such as satellite connectivity), and network management practices."

Two details decide what price is locked. The FAQ says "the locked-in price is the published rate plan price as of the date of activation for each line, not the original advertised price when the account was opened." It also says: "If you switch to another plan in the future, you will lose whatever price promotion is tied to your old rate plan."

The older promises do not stop a price change. They pay the last month. Under the Last Month Price Lock and the Un-contract Promise, if T-Mobile raises the price and the customer leaves, T-Mobile covers the final month's recurring service charge when told within 60 days. That is what happened in July 2026, when T-Mobile retired its oldest plans and moved those customers to newer plans. Its plan update page says those plans were covered by "either the Un-contract Promise or the Last Month Price Lock." The details are on our page on every T-Mobile price increase in 2026.

Verizon: the myPlan guarantee stopped for new sign-ups on June 16, 2026

Verizon introduced the 3-year price lock on April 3, 2025. Its announcement said "every time you change your myPlan, the price lock resets for another 3 years." The fine print said the lock "Excludes taxes, fees, surcharges, additional plan discounts or promotions, and third-party services."

Verizon's support FAQ now reads: "Before 6/16/26, myPlan included a 3-year price guarantee." It adds: "The 3-year price guarantee will be maintained for customers who switched to a new myPlan plan or enrolled in myPlan prior to 6/16." The FAQ does not say whether a plan change made after that date still resets an existing guarantee.

For customers who have it, the Important Plan Information page sets two limits. It says: "Price guarantee is void if any of the lines are canceled or moved to an ineligible plan." And: "Plan perks, taxes, fees, discounts, promotions and third-party services are subject to change." On the end date it says: "View your bill to see when your guarantee expires."

Verizon Prepaid still advertises a lock. Its prepaid page says "3-year price lock guarantee on any Prepaid phone plan" and, in the note attached to that line, that the guarantee covers the base monthly rate for talk, text and data and excludes taxes, fees, surcharges, one-time charges, plan discounts or promotions and third-party services. We found no price guarantee on Verizon's Simplicity plan FAQ. More on Verizon's 2026 changes is on our page on every Verizon price increase in 2026.

AT&T: a prepaid price lock, and a guarantee that is not about price

AT&T's postpaid plans come with the AT&T Guarantee. As described on its page, it promises bill credits for qualifying network outages, smartphone deals that do not require the most expensive plan, no hidden fees or equipment charges on AT&T Fiber, and response-time commitments for support calls. It does not fix a monthly plan price. We searched AT&T's wireless plans, AT&T Fiber and AT&T Internet Air pages for a price lock or price guarantee and found none. In its June 3, 2026 fiber release, AT&T described its approach as giving customers simple choices "while Verizon and T-Mobile roll out confusing price locks".

The price lock AT&T does sell is on AT&T PREPAID. The prepaid plans page says "Lock in our lowest monthly price for 5 years" and, in the fine print, "Taxes & fees extra." The offer details for the $25 Unlimited Plan set the terms. The lock "Applies only to a new customer’s regular base rate for a new line on an eligible plan." It "Excludes taxes, fees, surcharges, add-ons, and discounted rates (including Auto Pay discount)." And: "If you cancel your service, change to an ineligible plan, or add a line to your account, your price lock will end."

The 2026 fee increases that reached locked lines

Because every lock leaves out the carriers' own fees, a fee increase changes the bill of a locked line the same way it changes any other line on a plan that bills fees separately.

T-Mobile's support page gives the current amount: "Voice lines: $5.49 per line every month (Regulatory Programs $0.50; Telco Recovery $4.99)." Its current Experience plans, which carry the 5-Year Price Guarantee, are priced "+ taxes and fees", and their broadband labels list the $5.49 fee per line. Verizon's Important Plan Information page lists the Administrative and Telco Recovery Charge at $3.78 per voice line, with the note "Increases to $4.69 effective Nov 15, 2026". On a myPlan line with the guarantee, the two flat Verizon charges together go from $3.99 to $4.95 a month by our arithmetic. The AT&T $25 plan's offer details, which carry the 5-Year Price Lock, list a recurring "Administrative/Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee ($2.63) which is not government-required". All per-line fees are compared on our page on carrier fees per line.

Home internet price guarantees

The same exclusions apply to home internet. T-Mobile's FAQ says its 5G Internet 5-Year Guarantee covers the monthly price for fixed-wireless 5G internet data and excludes taxes and fees, voluntary equipment or speed upgrades, limited-time promotions, discounts such as AutoPay, add-ons and third-party services. It also lists a 10-Year Price Guarantee for invited T-Fiber Founders' Club customers. Verizon's Important Plan Information page lists 3-year, 4-year and 5-year service price guarantees on its 5G Home, LTE Home and Home Internet Lite plans, which apply "only to the then-current base monthly rate exclusive of any other setup and additional equipment charges, discounts or promotions, plan perk and any other third-party services." We found no price lock on AT&T Fiber or AT&T Internet Air pages.

The T-Mobile price lock lawsuit

In Oddo v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., T-Mobile customers sued over rate increases on plans they say were promised to keep their price. On September 29, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington (No. 2:25-cv-01651-RAJ) granted T-Mobile's motion to compel arbitration and stayed the case. The order does not decide whether the increases were lawful. This page is general information, not legal advice; how the rules apply depends on the facts and the state.

What we could not confirm

• Whether a Verizon myPlan guarantee from before June 16, 2026 still resets when the customer changes myPlan plans after that date. Verizon's April 2025 announcement said it resets; the current Unlimited Ultimate FAQs and Important Plan Information page do not say.
• Which AT&T PREPAID plans other than the $25 Unlimited Plan carry the 5-Year Price Lock, and the date AT&T began offering it. We read the prepaid plans page and the $25 plan's offer details.
• The full terms of the AT&T Guarantee. AT&T's page builds most of its text with scripts; we read the text present in the page's HTML.
• The length of T-Mobile's Original Price Lock and Un-contract Promise in years. The FAQ does not give one.
• The June 22, 2026 start date of the AT&T PREPAID fee on an AT&T page. AT&T's offer details give the amount but not the date; the date is as reported by GSMArena.

Sources

• 5-Year Price Guarantee, Price Lock and Un-contract terms; home internet guarantees - T-Mobile: Price Lock FAQs, read 2026-10-17
• Regulatory Programs & Telco Recovery Fee amounts - T-Mobile Support: Your bill and what's impacting it, read 2026-10-17
• Experience plans priced plus taxes and fees - T-Mobile: Cell phone plans, read 2026-10-17
• Retired plans covered by the Un-contract Promise or Last Month Price Lock - T-Mobile: Plan Update Details & Benefits, read 2026-10-17
• myPlan guarantee before June 16, 2026 - Verizon Support: Unlimited Ultimate FAQs, read 2026-10-17
• Guarantee terms, surcharge amounts, home internet guarantees - Verizon Support: Important Plan Information, read 2026-10-17
• 3-year price lock announcement, April 3, 2025 - Verizon News Center, read 2026-10-17
• Prepaid 3-year price lock guarantee - Verizon Prepaid, read 2026-10-17
• Prepaid 5-year price lock - AT&T Prepaid plans, read 2026-10-17
• 5-Year Price Lock terms and the $2.63 fee - AT&T: $25 Unlimited Plan offer details, read 2026-10-17
• What the AT&T Guarantee covers - AT&T Guarantee, read 2026-10-17
• AT&T statement on price locks, June 3, 2026 - PR Newswire: AT&T Launches Simple Fiber Plans, read 2026-10-17
• Court order of September 29, 2026, Oddo v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., No. 2:25-cv-01651-RAJ (W.D. Wash.), Dkt. No. 82 - copy of the order in the RECAP archive, read 2026-10-17
• Reported: T-Mobile fee from $4.49 to $5.49 on October 12, 2026 - Droid Life, September 28, 2026, read 2026-10-17
• Reported: AT&T PREPAID fee from June 22, 2026 - GSMArena, May 20, 2026, read 2026-10-17

Source links are not affiliate links. This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice.