Verizon (VZ) ruffled a few feathers at the beginning of this year when it decided to continue down the path of hiking prices for its mobile services.
Shortly after ringing in the new year, Verizon announced in January that it was raising the monthly prices of its myPlan and New Verizon Plan wireless accounts due to “rising operational costs.”
💵💰Don’t miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet’s free daily newsletter 💰💵
By March, it increased the price of its Verizon Mobile Protect Multi-Device plan and Verizon Mobile Secure Multi-Device plan by $8, which applied to wireless customers with four to 20 lines.
Related: Verizon announces generous offer, but customers should beware
While these significant pricing changes took place, many Verizon customers took to social media to air their frustrations about higher prices, with some threatening to switch phone providers.
Verizon appears to face the consequences of price hikes
Amid these threats, Verizon recently revealed in its first-quarter earnings report for 2025 that while its wireless revenues increased by 2.7% year-over-year during the quarter, generating $20.8 billion, it faced a net loss of 289,000 total postpaid phone customers.
In a note to investors, analysts at New Street Research said the loss in customers matches Verizon’s “worst result on record.”
During an earnings call on April 22, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg admitted that recent price increases contributed to the dip in customers during the quarter.
Related: Verizon makes a desperate move to lure back fleeing customers
“We did have a slow start on postpaid phone net adds, largely driven by elevated churn due to recent price ups and pressure from federal government accounts,” said Vestberg.
Despite this loss, Verizon Consumer Group CEO Sam Path emphasized during the call that the company does not regret recent price hikes.
“We made a decision to price up certain cohorts in December and January, and they were the right trade-offs to make,” said Path. “It helped us lock the revenue for the rest of the year, and it was the right thing to do.”
Verizon issues stern warning
Vestberg also warned Verizon customers may soon see higher prices for mobile devices due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Tariffs are taxes companies pay to import goods from overseas, and the additional cost is often filtered down to consumers through increased prices.
“If we’re going to see those type of increases on handsets that we’ve heard, we are not planning to absorb those,” said Vestberg. “I mean, that needs to be passed onto the customers. That’s the only way to do it because that’s so much money.”
More Retail:
- AT&T quietly issues stern warning to customers
- Sam’s Club makes a big change to a beloved membership perk
- GameStop announces risky move amid store closures
The warning comes after Verizon Chief Financial Officer Tony Skiadas flagged last month that the company is noticing year-over-year declines in the number of customers upgrading their phones.
“Customers continue by choice to hang on to their phones for longer periods of time,” said Skiadas during a Morgan Stanley conference last month. “The average upgrade cycle for us is up over 40 months. It’s like 42 months right now. So the phones are made better. And from our standpoint, we’ll continue to be disciplined in our approach to retention.”
In an effort to attract and retain customers in light of recent challenges, Verizon plans to pull several levers.
“We are doubling down on our customer-first strategy with an increased focus on customer retention with the Verizon value guarantee, an industry-leading three-year price lock, free phone guarantee for everyone, and savings you cannot get elsewhere,” said Path during the earnings call.
Earlier this month, Verizon began offering a new three-year price lock guarantee to new and existing customers who have myPlan and myHome network plans. In addition, it has also started offering customers a free phone and home internet router when they trade in their devices.
However, perks, discounts, taxes, and fees are excluded from this price-lock guarantee, which means that Verizon can still raise monthly bills by hiking fees or slashing discounts.
Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast
