Lafayette, LA (KPEL News) - Cell customers in Louisiana, Texas, and many other state across the southern half of the country were without service for the majority of the day on Thursday, February 22. AT&T admitted that the snafu was theirs and “was caused by the application & execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network.” Verizon and T-Mobile both said their networks were working fine and that any issues their customers happened when they were trying to contact friends outside of their networks.

Customers from southern California to Atlanta to Chicago were affected by the outage.

And now, customers across the country, including Louisiana and Texas, can expect a price hike to hit your bill in the next month.

AT&T CUSTOMER PRICING CHANGES

Although not bound to do so legally, AT&T announced that eligible customers affected by the outage would receive a $5 credit per account.

With the recently announced price hike, you won't really notice the credit on your bill.

AT&T told CNet that customers on most of its unlimited plans, which are also being renamed, will see an increase of 99 cents per line per month. The upside is that customers will also see an increase in the hotspot data included with their plan.

If you subscribe to the Unlimited Starter, it will be called the Unlimited Starter SL and include 5GB of hotspot data versus the previous amount of 3 GB.

If you subscribe to the Unlimited Extra, it's being renamed Unlimited Extra EL. Customers on this pricing level will see double the amount of hotspot data at 30GB.

The Unlimited Premium plan will be referred to as the Unlimited Premium PL, and customers can utilize 60GB of data as opposed to the 50GB they are currently getting.

Customers who are Unlimited Elite plan users won't see an increase because AT&T raised those rates last year.

Value Plus VL customers will also see a 99 cent increase, but no hotspot data. There will, however, be other perks added to the plan. AT&T will allow 10 lines to be on the plan now.

The new rates will go into effect on Monday, March 5, 2024.

VERIZON PRICING CHANGES

Verizon told CNet that they will be raising costs to customers of its older unlimited plans by $4 per month beginning on March 1, 2024.

Customers who participate in the following unlimited plans will be affected:

• 5G Get More
• 5G Play More
• 5G Do More
• 5G Start

In a statement to CNet, Verizon said they are hoping to move customers to the "myPlan" options. Additionally, it says myPlan customers can take advantage of options that offer savings on streaming and other services.

Prices for customers on myPlan will not change.

T-MOBILE CUSTOMERS

T-Mobile cell customers aren't affected right now by the price hikes, but the company is adjusting its rates for home internet. CNet reports that existing customers who are price-locked won't see an increase, but their home internet product will cost $60 for people who aren't mobile customers.

Discounts on home internet service is available to T-Mobile cell customers. The amount of the discount depends on the wireless plan the customer has.

T-Mobile's cost adjustments went into effect in January.