AT&T U-verse Raising Rates

AT&T U-verse customers will have to reach down into their wallets a bit further in 2010, as the telecom company is hiking rates on cable and internet rates next month.  The AT&T U-verse rate hike is in line with those announced by DIRECTV and other cable TV companies over the past few months.

The U-verse price increase will take effect on February 1st, 2010 and ranges between $3 and $5 depending on the U-verse bundle you subscribe to.   AT&T is hiking the lower priced packages the most, as the U-verse U-family package and the U100 options will both increase $5 a month from $49 to $54 a month.   These entry level packages have competed well against both cable and satellite TV options, offering a good channel lineup at a lower price then the competition.

According to AT&T, the price increase on U-verse is the first that many customers will have to endure.  Of course the service is fairly new, making its debut in 2006 in very limited areas.  Since then, U-verse has garnered more than 2 million subscribers in the states where it has been deployed.   Higher programming costs were cited as the main reason for the price hike.

If you have one of the larger U-verse TV packages, those will be jumping up as well.  The U200 will rise from $64 to $67 per month.  The U300 will increase in price from $79 to $82 per month.  Finally, the all inclusive U450 will jump from $109 to $112 a month.  The U200 Latino (Spanish package) will also go up $3 a month, from $74 to $77.   If you are comparison shopping against satellite a like package from DIRECTV, the Premier bundle. is currently at $109.99 but will be moving up $5 a month to $104.99 next month.

If you have other AT&T U-verse services, you will be paying a bit more for some of those as well.  U-verse broadband will be raised for the lower speed tiers.   AT&T is hiking their Express (1.5 Mbps), Pro (3 Mbps) and Elite (6 Mbps) tiers $5 each.  On the other hand, the faster U-verse internet packages Max (12 Mbps) and Max Plus (18 Mbps) will be dropped $10 each for new customers only.  That decision is sure to fire up existing U-verse customers who will have the privilege of paying more for the same service.

AT&T U-verse telephone rates are also going up if you have the top plan.  U-verse voice unlimited will rise $5 to $35 a month.  The limited phone plan, the Voice 250 will stay at $25 per month, but only includes 250 minutes of long distance calling per month.

AT&T certainly isn’t alone in raising prices in 2010.  DIRECTV raised prices recently, though they won’t actually hit subscriber bills until February, and Comcast hiked rates late last year.  While a Dish Network price increase has been rumored, nothing official has come out yet.