It seems like for every action you take, there is a few kind of fee attached to it. When Verizon first announced their new contract-free plans, it was refreshing to see a lack of activation fees attached to them. Verizon customers have been able to duck an activation fee when signing up with a device payment plan, but that might be changing.
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Verizon added that customers opting for a 2-year contract, which they can do if they’re upgrading from a previous 2-year contract, will be subject to a $40 activation fee when adding a new line of service.
Verizon no longer offers two-year contracts to new customers.
Starting in August, Verizon said all new smartphone customers would need to choose its EIP option for activating a new smartphone. He expects Verizon to make $189 million in additional revenue next year from the new activation fee, adding $122 million in profit.
Sprint charges a $36 activation fee for all new lines of service. The fee is a one-time charge – it won’t ever show up on your bill again after you fork over your $20 to activate a line.
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All three of Verizon’s biggest nationwide competitors also charge activation fees. All of the major carriers have a few form of activation fee, with AT&T enjoying the crown of most expensive at $45 and T-Mobile the least expensive with the slightly obfuscated $15 SIM Starter Kit. Does that really cost the company $20? The price increase, which will affect a tiny percentage of Verizon customers, could be created to get subscribers to switch to newer usage-based shared data plans, which might actually be cheaper in a few cases, depending on the customer’s usage.
