Early last year, T-Mobile rolled out some harsh changes that frustrated its customers to the point where some decided to cut ties with the company.
Last April, T-Mobile raised monthly prices for some of its older phone plans by $5 and increased its regulatory and Telco program recovery fee that customers pay each month.
It also officially withdrew its Go5G plans in June and began removing fees and charges from plan prices. By August, T-Mobile even booted select customers from older phone plans and placed them on its Go5G Plus plan.
After those changes went into effect, T-Mobile revealed in its third quarter 2025 earnings report that postpaid phone churn, the number of customers who have discontinued their phone service, rose 3 basis points year-over-year.
The loss of loyal customers is no surprise, as many Americans have drawn a line in the sand when it comes to the price of their monthly phone bills. This has led to more consumers exploring cheaper non-traditional options for phone service, such as mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), according to a survey conducted by WhistleOut last year.
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The average cost of a single line phone plan is $76 per month.
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About 42% of T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T customers have seen their phone bills grow in the last year, that is 7% higher than the average.
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Also, 58% of T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T customers are thinking about switching to another phone operator as prices rise.
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In addition, 34% of these customers said they would cinsider switching at o MVNO during the following year.
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T-Mobile risk losing a combined 75.9 million customers due to high cell phone plan prices.
Source: WhistleOut
“In the wake of economic uncertainty and rising prices, many people are realizing they can save by switching phone service to smaller carriers, called MVNOs,” WhistleOut senior writer Max McCaskill wrote in the survey. “These carriers use the major carrier networks, but at a significantly lower cost.”
Despite the risk of losing more customers, T-Mobile has decided to start the new year by raising monthly bills with another fee increase.
In an update on its website, the telco has warned customers that it is once again raising its Recovery Fee for Regulatory and Telco programmes. T-Mobile says the fee helps “recover certain costs” it incurs, such as fees from other carriers and the costs of financing and complying with government mandates.
Starting January 21, the fee will increase from $3.99 to $4.49 per voice line for phone customers. For mobile internet lines, the fee will increase from $1.60 to $2.10 per line.
Related: T-Mobile Changes Bold Phone Plan After Customer Losses
The rate adjustment will only affect customers who have plans that do not have fees and charges included in the price. Customers with older plans that already include fees and charges won’t see any changes to their bills.
When T-Mobile last raised its Telco Regulatory and Recovery Programs Fee last April, the fee increased from $3.49 to $3.99 for voice lines and from $1.40 to $1.60 for mobile Internet lines.
The fee has faced criticism from customers in the past, with some questioning its legitimacy. In 2024, T-Mobile was hit with a class-action lawsuit in which customers claimed they had been “illegally” charged this fee for decades and claimed the description of the fee was “unfair and misleading” because the fee “is not tied to any benchmark” and can change “at will.”
T-Mobile’s latest fee hike comes shortly after the company made some significant billing changes affecting its customers in recent months.
In October, T-Mobile began informing customers that they would lose their autopay discount if they prepay with a credit card. It also began requiring customers who want to make payment arrangements for outstanding balances to do so through the T-Life app, rather than at a T-Mobile store or the company’s automated phone system.
The following month, T-Mobile also increased its late fee for customers who don’t pay their bills on time, from $7 to $10 (or 5% of the outstanding balance; T-Mobile will choose whichever is greater).
Most recently, on Jan. 1, the carrier began charging $3 per month for its Apple TV “On Us” benefit, which was free for “Plus” phone plan customers starting in 2021.
These changes come as T-Mobile operates under new leadership. On November 1, Srini Gopalan became the managing director of the company after serving as chief operating officer for about seven months.
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Under his leadership, Gopalan aims to usher in a “digital transformation” at T-Mobile that he hopes will address customer frustration.
“I want you all to know that I am committed to not only being the network leader today, but also investing tirelessly to defend and expand our network leadership margin for tomorrow,” Gopalan said during an October earnings call.
“Let me talk a little bit about digital transformation. The amount of friction and frustration we cause customers today because of our processes and the state of evolution in this industry is phenomenal. We have a huge opportunity to change that with our digital transformation,” he continued.
T-Mobile’s change in direction comes after a recent JD Power survey found the carrier lagging behind MVNOs in terms of consumer satisfaction rates.
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T-Mobile has one consumer satisfaction score of 636 (on a 1,000-point scale) for its postpaid plans, beating Verizon and AT&T, which have dozens 583 and 573, respectively.
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However, MVNO sites have an average satisfaction score of 641.
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More accurate, Consumer Cellular has a score of 726while Google Fi Wireless has a score of 671.
Source: JD Power
“Findings show that value is the most important driver of overall experience, followed closely by service quality,” Carl Lepper, senior director of technology, media and telecommunications at JD Power, said in a press release.
“These two dimensions are central to our new model – and for good reason,” he added. “As the market expands with a wide variety of brands designed to meet diverse customer needs, expectations are rising – not just for strong network performance, but also for service plans that reflect individual preferences.”
Related: DirecTV makes tough move as customers continue to leave
This story was originally published by TheStreet on January 12, 2026, where it first appeared in the Retail section. Add TheStreet as a favorite source by clicking here.