Your Verizon Bill Just Got a Little More Expensive

If you pay close attention to your Verizon bill this month, next to the nebulous “Administrative and Telco Recovery Charge,” you’ll notice that you’re paying 20 cents more per voice and data line than before, as confirmed by Verizon spokesperson Greg Koroneos to The Verge.

The increase, meager as it seems on the surface, takes the total administrative fee for a voice line to $3.50 and the total administrative fee for a data line to $1.60.

So you have to kick another couple quarters to Verizon each month—what’s the big deal? Well, the nickel-and-diming follows a more significant administrative fee increase from just two years ago, which saw prices for voice lines rise from $1.95 to $3.30. At the same time, Verizon also applied a new “Economic Adjustment Charge” to some business accounts, running those customers an extra $2.20 per line and an extra 98 cents for each phone and tablet on the account.

All of that starts to add up after a while. So, what’s the reasoning for these changes? In a statement to CNET after 2022’s $1.35 price increase, Verizon said:

“From time to time, we review and make adjustments to fees to defray some of Verizon’s administrative and telco expenses and costs of complying with regulatory requirements.”

Well, that clears that up!

As a New Yorker, I can’t help but be reminded of the regular price increases for riding on the MTA. They usually land every few years or so, and bump up prices by 15 to 20 cents per hike. The most recent one, from August 2023, took the subway and bus fare from $2.75 to $2.90, and while that might seem minor at first, an extra 15 cents on two rides per day for a five-day work week adds up to an extra 75 cent charge per week overall. Multiply that over a whole year, with new fare increases landing regularly, and you can see why people would start to get upset.

I suppose that, at least with this change, you’re only paying the extra fee once a month.