AT&T and Verizon Wireless now charging $20 device upgrade fees

(credit: Dustin Moore)

AT&T and Verizon Wireless now charge $20 fees when customers upgrade their mobile devices, with one notable difference: AT&T charges the fee even when customers bring their own phones to the network instead of buying devices from the carrier.

Verizon started charging a $20 upgrade fee on Monday this week, matching the $20 fee it introduced in November for customers activating new lines. MacRumors published a leaked memo, which said the upgrade fee applies when customers buy their phones from Verizon—whether they pay full retail price or make monthly payments on an installment plan—and also when customers enroll in Apple's iPhone upgrade program. Verizon won't charge an upgrade fee when customers supply their own equipment. (A $40 upgrade fee still applies when people get an old-fashioned two-year contract.)

Verizon's memo compared its own upgrade fees to those of other carriers, noting that T-Mobile doesn't charge a fee, while Sprint charges $30 and AT&T was charging $15.

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