Temporarily Pause a phone line & billing?

Hi there @dspavlik, we'll be happy to answer your questions about pausing service. 

You're able to put your daughter's line in a voluntary suspension online, which will stop your daughter from using wireless service. There are some exceptions, as she will still be able to call 911 & 611, and she'll still have data access when on a Wi-Fi network. 

As for your bill, you'll still be charged for your daughter's rate plan, add-ons and the installment payments for the phone on her line. You can see more details about this, and the usage exceptions listed above on this page about suspension.

Once you're ready to remove the suspension for your daughter's line, all you need to do is reactivate it online.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Dylan, AT&T Community Specialist

thank you!

You're welcome @dspavlik, we're happy to help.

If you have any questions about your service or account in the future, please don't hesitate to reach back out to ask. We'll always be happy to help you out. 

Thank you for being a part of AT&T, and for reaching out to the AT&T Community Forums.

Dylan, AT&T Community Specialist

So there is no way to reduce the expense of this line while my daughter is away at school for year? I seems silly to suspend the account if there is no financial reduction.

Are there any "basic" cell plans that can take my cost of $40 per month for her line down to something more reasonable? If not, why not?

I have 4 lines w/ AT&T and have been a customer for 15 years. Does customer loyalty mean anything anymore? 

So there is no way to reduce the expense of this line while my daughter is away at school for year?

Again, you can call and request the line be put on a reduced rate suspension.

Are there any "basic" cell plans that can take my cost of $40 per month for her line down to something more reasonable?

No.

If not, why not?

There is no answer to that. All of ATT’s plans are on att.com, you can see for yourself what they are but putting one line on a separate plan will almost certainly cost more than the per line price you are already paying for your 4 line plan. As I suggested previously, port her number to google voice. That will cancel her line from your plan. You can port the number back when she returns. She can even use that number from abroad.

Hi dspavlik, we are here to help with your suspension inquiry!

We recommend our AT&T Prepaid plans where if you don’t make any payments, your AT&T Prepaid service shuts off 60 days after your balance runs out. If you don’t want your service anymore, be sure to:

• Remove AutoPay if you use it. Learn how to cancel AutoPay for your AT&T PREPAID account.
• Cancel any third-party service subscriptions.  They won't automatically end when your service does you have to take care of them separately. Learn how to cancel subscriptions billed through your AT&T PREPAID account.

Learn how to stay in touch while traveling abroad with our AT&T Prepaid Travel Add-ons. If you need support while abroad call +1.408.962.1025 available 24/7, FREE from AT&T mobile phone.

ATTHelp, recommending prepaid is ridiculous. What a terrible suggestion.

Yep. Would simply like an option to change the $40 a month plan on this line to a $10 a month (non-activity) plan. But I cannot find anything cheaper than a $30 month option.

Hi there again dspavlik, let's shed a light on the Reduced Rate Suspend option!

Service can only remain suspended for 6 months (180 days) with Reduced Rate Suspend(RRST). Individual lines of service can be placed on RRST only once during any 12-month time period.

Other requirements are:

1. The line cannot be receiving a promotion or retention credit.
2. Cannot have an active installment plan agreement.
   1. Installment plan agreement requires an active monthly recurring charge.
3. If customer is receiving an Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) benefit, the customer will have to reach out to the AT&T ACP Center (866-986-0963) to complete the suspend.
4. If the customer subscribes to an AT&T protection plan, RRST requires removal of the feature. 
5. Account balance must be current.
6. No prior RRST within past 365 days.

You can check out our other options for voluntary suspend as the previous agent suggested, where suspension can be indefinate but your monthly recurring charges will continue to bill.

We hope this helps, reach back out to us if you have additional questions. Thank you for posting on the AT&T Community Forums!

Rhoda, AT&T Community Specialist