Every T-Mobile price increase in 2026: fee rises on January 21 and October 12, and the July plan retirements
T-Mobile made three price changes in 2026 that reached existing customers' bills. Its Regulatory Programs & Telco Recovery Fee rose twice, from $3.99 to $4.49 per voice line on January 21, 2026 and to $5.49 on October 12, 2026. In between, T-Mobile retired its oldest plans and moved those customers to newer plans from the bill cycle after July 13, 2026, which T-Mobile says raises some accounts by up to $6 per phone line and up to $3 per watch or tablet line.
- T-Mobile changes in 2026
- 3 (fee rise in January, plan retirements in July, fee rise in October)
- Fee per voice line, start of 2026
- $3.99 per month
- Fee per voice line, from Oct 12, 2026
- $5.49 per month ($1.50 more than in early January)
- Fee per Mobile Internet line
- $1.60, then $2.10 (Jan 21), then $2.60 (Oct 12)
- Largest per-line amount
- Up to $6 per phone line per month (July plan retirements)
- Watch and tablet lines
- Up to $3 per line per month (July plan retirements)
- Covered by Price Lock or the 5-Year Price Guarantee?
- The fee is not; T-Mobile says taxes and fees are excluded
Figures above were read from T-Mobile's support page "Your bill and what's impacting it", its 2026 plan update pages and its Price Lock FAQs on 2026-10-16. The January 21 amounts are as reported by Droid Life. The $1.50 is our arithmetic. See sources.
Every T-Mobile price change in 2026, by date
This table lists each change that took effect on T-Mobile consumer bills in 2026, with the date, the amounts and who it applies to, as T-Mobile states them. Where only a news report gives the detail, the row says so.
| Effective | What changed | Old to new | Who it affects | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 21, 2026 | Regulatory Programs & Telco Recovery Fee, voice lines | $3.99 to $4.49 per line per month | Plans that bill taxes and fees separately | Reported by Droid Life (Jan 7, 2026), quoting T-Mobile's support page |
| Jan 21, 2026 | Same fee, Mobile Internet lines | $1.60 to $2.10 per line per month | Plans that bill taxes and fees separately | Reported by Droid Life (Jan 7, 2026) |
| Bill cycle after Jul 13, 2026 | Oldest phone plans retired; customers moved to newer plans | Up to $6 per phone line per month; some accounts no change | Customers on retired plans who were notified on June 29, 2026 | T-Mobile plan update page; the $6 figure is from T-Mobile's text message as quoted by Droid Life and 9to5Mac |
| Bill cycle after Jul 13, 2026 | Retired watch and tablet plans moved to a newer plan | Up to $3 per line per month | Watch and tablet lines on retired plans | T-Mobile watch and tablet plan update page |
| Bill cycle after Jul 13, 2026 | Retired home internet plans moved to a newer plan | Up to $6 per line per month (as worded on T-Mobile's page) | Home internet customers on retired plans | T-Mobile home internet plan update page |
| With the July plan moves | KickBack bill credit ended | Credit of up to $10 per line ends | Lines that had KickBack | T-Mobile plan update page; credit amount from T-Mobile's 2017 launch release |
| Oct 12, 2026 | Regulatory Programs & Telco Recovery Fee, voice lines | $4.49 to $5.49 per line per month | Plans that bill taxes and fees separately | T-Mobile support page; the date as the page gave it before the change, reported by Droid Life (Sep 28, 2026) |
| Oct 12, 2026 | Same fee, Mobile Internet lines | $2.10 to $2.60 per line per month | Plans that bill taxes and fees separately | T-Mobile support page; Droid Life (Sep 28, 2026) |
One more line on some bills is not a T-Mobile charge. T-Mobile's support page lists, under government taxes and fees, a $0.05 monthly fee per line for Connecticut customers only, effective July 1, 2026, for the state's Firefighters Cancer Relief program.
The fee that rose twice: Regulatory Programs & Telco Recovery
T-Mobile sets this fee itself. Its support page says: "This fee is not a government tax or imposed by the government". The page now gives the amounts in effect since October 12: "Voice lines: $5.49 per line every month (Regulatory Programs $0.50; Telco Recovery $4.99)." and "Mobile Internet lines: $2.60 per line every month (Regulatory Programs $0.12; Telco Recovery $2.48)."
The January step is no longer shown on T-Mobile's page. Droid Life reported on January 7, 2026 that T-Mobile had added text to that page giving $4.49 per voice line and $2.10 per Mobile Internet line, effective January 21, 2026. The fee was $3.49 per voice line until April 23, 2025, when it rose to $3.99, also as reported by Droid Life. So the same fee has gone from $3.49 to $5.49 per voice line in about 18 months.
The fee is charged on plans that bill taxes and fees on top of the plan price. When the fee rose in April 2025, T-Mobile told Droid Life that customers with taxes and fees included in their plans were not affected. The details for each plan are on our page on the October 12, 2026 T-Mobile fee increase.
The July 2026 plan retirements
On June 29, 2026, T-Mobile notified customers on its oldest plans that those plans were being retired. T-Mobile's page for these customers says: "We have notified all customers who will see a price impact". It also says: "Some customers will see no change to their monthly bill. Others will see an increase." The plan changes on its own: "Your plan will update automatically during your upcoming billing cycle".
T-Mobile's public pages do not name the retired plans or give the new price for each one. They point customers to the T-Life app and to a plan comparison that requires logging in. The amounts T-Mobile itself stated are these:
- Phone lines: up to $6 per line per month. The text message T-Mobile sent read, in part, "Phone lines increase up to $6 per line per month." (as quoted by Droid Life and 9to5Mac on June 29, 2026). The same message, as quoted, gave the start as 7/13/26.
- Watch and tablet lines: up to $3 per line per month. T-Mobile's watch and tablet page says: "The rate of your watch and/or tablet plan will increase by up to $3/line per month." It adds: "Your updated bill will be available in the T-Life app after July 13th."
- Home internet: up to $6 per line per month. T-Mobile's page for home internet customers says their home internet plan is being retired, and under "Your future bill cycle" it reads: "The rate of your phone plan will increase by up to $6/line per month." That is the page's wording, on a page addressed to home internet customers.
Two other points from T-Mobile's page affect the bill. On taxes and fees: "Your tax and fee treatment will remain unchanged as part of the plan transition." On the KickBack credit: "The Kickback program is ending and being retired as part of this update." When T-Mobile launched KickBack in January 2017, it said "customers can get up to $10 back per line every month they use 2GB or less". The page also says watches, tablets and some home internet plans can be included: "Plan updates may apply to connected device lines like watches and tablets, as well as some Home Internet plans."
In a statement quoted by Droid Life, T-Mobile said: "Some customers will see no change to their monthly bill, while some will see a modest adjustment." 9to5Mac reported that an internal T-Mobile email, first obtained by CNET, said the move clears out more than 1,100 legacy billing codes.
What it adds up to for 1 to 4 lines
The fee change can be added up exactly, because it is a flat amount per line. The July plan change cannot, because T-Mobile gives only a ceiling ("up to") and the amount depends on the old and new plan.
| Voice lines | Fee per month, Jan 1-20 | Fee per month, Jan 21-Oct 11 | Fee per month, from Oct 12 | Fee change since early January | July plan move, ceiling per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3.99 | $4.49 | $5.49 | +$1.50 | up to $6 |
| 2 | $7.98 | $8.98 | $10.98 | +$3.00 | up to $12 |
| 3 | $11.97 | $13.47 | $16.47 | +$4.50 | up to $18 |
| 4 | $15.96 | $17.96 | $21.96 | +$6.00 | up to $24 |
What Price Lock and the 5-Year Price Guarantee cover
T-Mobile's Price Lock FAQs say: "Taxes and fees are not covered by 5-Year Price Guarantee, Price Lock, or Un-contract." So neither fee increase is blocked by those promises.
The plans retired in July were, according to T-Mobile's plan update page, covered by either the Un-contract Promise or the Last Month Price Lock. T-Mobile's FAQ describes the Un-contract Promise this way: "We will pay your final month’s recurring service charge if we raise prices, and you choose to leave." The plan update page says the same, adding that customers should tell T-Mobile within 60 days.
Customers moved to a new plan get the 5-Year Price Guarantee. The FAQ says: "Additionally, any accounts transitioned to a qualifying plan in 2026 are also covered by the Guarantee." The guarantee covers the monthly price of talk, text and 5G data, and excludes taxes and fees, per-use charges, plan add-ons and third-party services.
The price increase lawsuit: where it stands
The lawsuit readers most often mean is Oddo v. T-Mobile USA, Inc. It is about earlier increases: the plaintiffs allege that T-Mobile raised the rates on their plans beginning in May 2024 after representing that the rates were guaranteed. The court records show:
- Filed in July 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
- Transferred on August 28, 2025 to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, where it is No. 2:25-cv-01651-RAJ.
- On September 29, 2026, Judge Richard A. Jones granted T-Mobile's motion to compel arbitration and stayed the case pending arbitration. The order directs the parties to report on the arbitration within 90 days, and says the court will dismiss the claims if arbitration is not started within 12 months.
The order does not decide whether the price 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
- The January 21, 2026 amounts on a current T-Mobile page. T-Mobile's support page now shows only the October amounts, and we could not read earlier copies of the page. The January figures come from Droid Life's January 7, 2026 report, which quotes the page.
- Which plans were retired in July and the new price for each. T-Mobile's public plan update pages do not list them; the details are behind a customer login. News reports name Simple Choice, ONE and Magenta plans, which we could not confirm on a T-Mobile page.
- The number of customers affected and the average increase. These figures appear only in news reports, which do not agree with each other.
- Why T-Mobile's home internet page says "phone plan". We record the wording as it appears on the page read on October 16, 2026.
- New T-Mobile plans for new customers. As of October 16, 2026, we found news reports of upcoming plans but no T-Mobile announcement on its newsroom page, so they are not in the table.
- Any separate lawsuit over the 2026 fee increases or the July 2026 plan retirements. Our web searches found none, but we could not search federal court dockets directly.
- Whether the January fee increase applied to T-Mobile 5G Home Internet lines. T-Mobile's support page names only voice lines and Mobile Internet lines.
Related: our records of the Verizon price increases in 2026 and the AT&T price increases in 2026, and a side-by-side of per-line carrier fees at T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T.
Questions
Did T-Mobile raise its prices in 2026?
What was the T-Mobile price increase in July 2026?
Does the 5-Year Price Guarantee stop the fee increases?
Is there a lawsuit over T-Mobile's price increases?
Sources
- Fee amounts, split and description; Connecticut fee - T-Mobile Support: Your bill and what's impacting it, read 2026-10-16
- Phone plan retirements, KickBack, taxes and fees in the move - T-Mobile: Plan Update Details & Benefits, read 2026-10-16
- Watch and tablet plan change, up to $3 per line - T-Mobile: Plan Update Details & Benefits (watch and tablet), read 2026-10-16
- Home internet plan change - T-Mobile: Plan Update Details & Benefits (home internet), read 2026-10-16
- Price Lock, Un-contract and 5-Year Price Guarantee terms - T-Mobile: Price Lock FAQs, read 2026-10-16
- KickBack credit amount - T-Mobile Newsroom: T-Mobile ONE Now Includes Monthly Taxes & Fees (January 23, 2017), read 2026-10-16
- 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 2026-10-16
- January 21, 2026 amounts (reported) - Droid Life, January 7, 2026, read 2026-10-16
- April 23, 2025 amounts and T-Mobile's statement on taxes-included plans (reported) - Droid Life, April 8, 2025, read 2026-10-16
- October 12, 2026 date as T-Mobile's page gave it before the change (reported) - Droid Life, September 28, 2026, read 2026-10-16
- T-Mobile's June 29, 2026 text message and statement (reported) - Droid Life, June 29, 2026, read 2026-10-16
- T-Mobile's June 29, 2026 text message and billing codes (reported) - 9to5Mac, June 29, 2026, read 2026-10-16
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