AT&T Services Overview

“AT&T” stands for “American Telephone & Telegraph.” And if that “telegraph” part of the name doesn’t clue you in on how old this company is, how about this: it was originally founded in 1885. Ready the horse and buggy! And if you’re curious, it didn’t adopt the shortened “AT&T” name until 1983.

HBO Max, AT&T’s flagship streaming platform, is available as a free subscription to customers signed up for the following plans:

• Home internet—AT&T Internet 1000
• Wireless—AT&T Unlimited Elite
• TV and streaming—AT&T TV NOW Max and AT&T TV Max

Customers on other AT&T plans also may be eligible for promotional trials and other offers. See AT&T’s page on HBO Max for more details.

The standalone service gives you access to the entire HBO catalog, original content, and thousands of titles from Warner Entertainment. That includes the entire Friends series, new programming, and the classic anime films of Hayao Miyazaki.

To get out of your AT&T contract, you’ll likely need to call customer service or show up in person at a nearby AT&T store.

Let your AT&T rep know you want to cancel your service. You won’t have to pay any early termination fees (ETFs) for AT&T’s internet service, since none of its plans require a contract. But you may have to pay ETFs for AT&T TV and other packages, depending on what you signed up for and how much longer you have on your contract. 

If you cancel your wireless service before your contract is up, you’ll pay an ETF. That fee changes depending on what type of phone or device you have.

• Smartphone with data agreement: Up to $325 or $10 per month remaining on your contract
• Basic phone, tablet, or other connected devices: Up to $150 or $4 per month remaining on your contract
• Learn more about the AT&T Wireless fees

AT&T internet plans don’t have annual contracts, so you probably don’t have to worry about an early termination fee. If you do sign up for an annual commitment (for example, by choosing a bundle TV package), the ETF is the same.

• AT&T internet cancellation fee: Up to $180 or $15 per month remaining on your contract 
• Learn more about AT&T internet fees

Have a DIRECTV subscription through AT&T? You may have a hefty fee if you cancel service early.

• AT&T DIRECTV cancellation fee: Up to $480 or $20 per each month remaining on your contract
• Learn more about AT&T DIRECTV fees

The AT&T TV streaming service might stick you with extra charges if you cancel early. You can cancel within 14 days of subscribing without incurring an early termination fee (ETF), but after that the fee will be prorated depending on the number of months you’ve been signed up.

• AT&T TV cancellation fee: Up to $360 or $15 per month left on your contract
• Learn more about AT&T TV fees

You can possibly avoid the dreaded ETF—or at least lower your fees—by taking us up on one of these tips. If worst comes to worst, you at least tried to save some money, right?

• Bad service: If your service hasn’t met what’s outlined in your AT&T contract, you might be able to get your ETF reduced. Try to keep detailed records of outages, slow speeds, and anything else that’s not up to par, then share those records with an AT&T rep to start negotiating a lower ETF.
• Contract buyouts: If you’re switching to a new ISP, cellphone company, or TV service, try to convince your new provider to buy out your contract. This means they’ll pay your fees for you—if you’re lucky.
• Wait out your contract: Your ETF is prorated based on how many months of service you have left on your contract. So waiting until the absolute last minute to cancel just so you can pay a smaller fee makes a lot of financial sense.