Costco has raised its prices on 5G phones
CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens, and others are raising prices on their 5G wireless devices, according to reports citing unnamed sources.
The reports said the moves are part of a strategy to drive down the cost of the wireless networks, which have been the most cost-effective way for companies to connect more people to their networks.
“These actions will enable our network to support a wider range of applications, and to continue to deliver better value for consumers,” a spokesperson for the companies said in a statement to Reuters.
The Wall Street Journal and the Wall Street Business Journal both report that the move is part of the effort to keep the cost per gigabyte from rising too much.
The cost per megabyte of a 5G network has gone up from $7.85 to $8.25 in the past year, according a report by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
The ITU has also said the cost will continue to rise as companies build more and more networks.CVS and Rite Aid have both raised their 5GHz prices, according the Journal.
Cincinnati, Ohio-based Rite Aid raised its 5G prices by a penny to $15 per gigabit per month, the Journal reported.
Rite Aid said the move was related to the increasing costs of 5G spectrum.
The company said it had already spent $1 billion on the 5G rollout, including the acquisition of spectrum from Verizon.
Other wireless carriers, such as AT&T and Sprint, have also raised their prices.