How much does a phone bill with AT&T cost?

AT&T is one of the leading mobile phone internet service providers in the United States and offers cell phone service, home phone service, and broadband internet service to a large number of customers in the United States. But how much does it cost to have phone service with AT&T? This is because the pricing factor can differ considerably based on the kind of plan that you need. In this guide, we will examine the main factors that influence the AT&T phone bill, the average price for its services, and their most popular plans.

Identifying Key Factors That Influence Cost

There are a few key variables that will determine how much your specific monthly AT&T Internet bill comes out to.

• Type of service – Cell phone, landline, VoIP, and others – Cell phone service is more expensive than landline.
• Data amount - Referring to cell phone tariffs, the amount of high-speed data required per month determines the price differential. Gathering more data = higher monthly charge.
• Minutes/Texts – The minimum tariff may rise depending on the choice of a communication plan with larger numbers of minutes or texts.
• Device payment plans – If you buy a new smartphone and pay for it via installment billing, that line item covers the monthly device cost.
• Additional features/services – Some of the things such as international calling plans, hot spot data, and streamed TV/MUSIC come with extra charges.
• Multiple-line plans or family plans – Having more than one line or being signed up with the company as a family will lead to lower prices.

With that understanding of what contributes to the charges in an AT&T bill, it is now good to consider estimated pricing based on their most popular products.

Understanding the Cell Phone plan pricing: A case of AT&T

AT&T segments its cell phone plans based on contract, no contract (monthly), and prepaid. They also have family plans, which makes it possible for multiple lines to be used at a relatively cheaper price. Here is the average per-line pricing for AT&T cell plans.

• Basic individual contract plan: Ranging from $50 to $65 per month
  
• Mid-tier unlimited individual plan: $75-$100/month
  
• Family plans with 2 lines: $70 – $180/month total
  
• No contract Individual plans:$40-$150 / month
  
• Prepaid Individual plans: $25-$85/month

The big variability for cell plans can be summarized by the amount of high-speed data you select (options range from 1GB to unlimited) and if other devices are included on a shared family plan. Taxes and fees can often increase the total price by at least $5-10 in addition to the base price.

AT&T Landline Home Phone Plans

Indeed, home landlines are still around and still being used. AT&T offers a few different landline packages, but pricing is more straightforward than mobile.

• Basic home phone service: about $30- 40 Monthly
  
• Bundle landline with internet or TV: $50- $100 monthly
  
• Unlimited nationwide calling plan: Over $50/month

So if you only require a fundamental home telephone line via AT&T, be ready to spend about $30-65 per month with extra fees. The bundling of services such as TV can help lower the cost of the landline by $5-15 per month. In general, cell phones will be more expensive than landlines for basic, undifferentiated talk time without special services.

VoIP Phone Service Pricing

VoIP is an abbreviation for Voice over Internet Protocol and it is, in essence, a home phone substitute that does away with the phone line and instead relies on the Internet.
AT&T offers VoIP packages and pricing in line with competitors.

• Basic VoIP home phone: $30+ per month
  
• VoIP bundles: $60-$120+/month

The costs incurred per month for using IP phones as compared to the home phone are almost the same. However, migrating to VoIP does provide more versatility if you crave additional line features and the ability to connect to other cell phones and devices. However, VoIP services also have standard taxes and fees on top of base rates just like with any mobile or landline services.

Business Phone Plan Pricing

Up to this point, we have only concentrated on consumer plans, but AT&T also offers phone systems for businesses. Some examples of small business plan pricing include.

• There is $30/month per line for the basic plans.
  
•  $12.50 per unit of the number of connected mobile devices
  
• >$30 per VoIP desk phone added
  
• While there are cheaper services available, the most popular one for now is $50 for unlimited calls anywhere in the country.

Well, if we try to estimate the average monthly AT&T bill for business phone access for a small business with 10 employees with some of them having cell phones, VoIP, and simple desk lines, it could easily range from $200 to $300. Effective pricing can fluctuate even more, based on the specifics of which products or services a business opts for. This is because, like any other business, AT&T (and other carriers) offer better rates for larger quantities of lines and services.

Additional AT&T Services and Charges

Based on your location, you will be charged additional base service charges besides the incremental add-ons, standard fees, and/or taxes in your monthly AT&T bill. Some examples include:

• Device installment plans: $5-$50 per smartphone per month
  
• International calling packs: $5-$15 monthly for discounted rates
  
• Early termination fees: Up to $325 if canceling the contract early
  
• Activation fees: $30 per new smartphone, $100 per tablet
  
• Government taxes: Range from location to location, and usually amount to 5-20% of the total bill.

Thus, AT&T MVNOs cost about 15-25% more than what is stated when the taxes, fees, and surcharges are included. This will help you avoid shock with your first 1-2 billing cycles, which often contain numerous additional costs that were not anticipated.

What Does This Mean for AT&T Pricing?

AT&T is a low-cost player operating in the context of premium phone carriers such as Verizon, T-Mobile, and others. Monthly, some plans or features can be cheaper by $5-$20 from competitors (or the other way around). However, on average, base plan rates differ by only 5-15% between the major carriers.

When comparing the prices, make sure to enter your actual feature requirements into the online comparison service. For instance, although the price of unlimited data plans is almost equal across all carriers, the mobile speed and the quality of coverage can affect the overall value of the plan. Therefore, it makes sense to judge based on one’s usage and not necessarily base it on the price listed in advertisements.

The Bottom Line

In a nutshell, the basic service of AT&T cell phones can go for as low as $25 if you opt for the prepaid service and $50 for the contractual services. Family plans lower the price to $40-$75 per device with unlimited data plans going for around $80 and above depending on certain factors. Local and long-distance packages are in the $30-$50 monthly price range, VoIP and small business are $30+ per line.

You should always include an additional 15-25% for fees, installation billing of devices, and other possible services that you may require. Then look for a similar offering across 2-3 carriers, entering your specific inbound/outbound data usage, talk time, and text message needs to get the most optimal service plan. These are the AT&T pricing estimates, they should help when you compare phones and plan your monthly expenditure.

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