Virgin Media shakes up annual broadband price rises for millions — find out how much extra YOU will pay

The long-held practice came under fire following months and months of spiralling inflation figures, which led customers with BT, EE, TalkTalk, and Vodafone seeing an increase of over 14% last year. That means anyone who paid £30 per month for an internet connection saw an inflation-fuelled rise of £51 extra a year.

During that same timeframe, Virgin Media O2 announced a 13.8% increase for all customers and Sky, which doesn’t link its price rise to the CPI or RPI measures of inflation, increased bills for broadband and television customers by 8.1% on average in early 2023.

Sky remains one of the only nationwide telecom brands that allows customers to walk away mid-contract without incurring any fees if they’re dissatisfied with the annual increase.

Despite inflation falling since 2023, things weren’t much better when the annual price rise was confirmed by broadband providers earlier this year.

When the annual price increases rolled around in April, BT, Plusnet, EE, TalkTalk and Virgin Media customers saw bills increase by a minimum of 7% — totalling an extra £28 per year for the average bill-payer. Sky customers were hit by an average increase of 6.7% across broadband and TV subscriptions in April 2024.

With the latest shake-up from Ofcom, inflation will no longer have any bearing on your broadband bills.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean you can necessarily expect to see smaller price rises on your broadband. In fact, with inflation rates tipped to fall dramatically in the coming months, subscribers could experience higher increases than they would’ve seen under the CPI-linked system by the time March 31, 2025 rolls around.

Virgin Media’s price rise of £3.50 is one of the steepest increases announced so far. It adds an additional £42 per year on their bills.

BT, EE, Plusnet, Vodafone, and TalkTalk have all confirmed plans to charge an extra £3 per month for new or re-contracting customers next year. That equates to £6 less annually than those subscribed with Virgin Media.

Virgin Media says the additional money raised by the increase will help meet rising demand for data — with usage on fixed broadband and mobile networks up 13% and 26% in the last year. The company says it will continue to invest £5 million every day in its networks and services to maintain fast and reliable connections for customers.

Meanwhile, O2 mobile customers will see their airtime bills rise by £1.80 monthly, while mobile broadband and those with mobile data for their smartwatches — like Apple Watch — will face a 75p increase. O2 mobile customers will pay an additional £21.60 annually from the airtime portion of their bills.

The changes will apply to all new and re-contracting customers from January 2025, though monthly instalments for smartphones and other devices for those with an O2 contract will remain frozen.

Virgin Media O2’s Social Tariff — which costs just £12.50 a month and is designed to help those on Universal Credit — will be shielded from these annual increases. At 15Mbps, this isn’t the fastest connection, but there’s no minimum contract term so you can walk away at any moment if your circumstances change with little notice.

Speaking about the shake-up in policy, a Virgin Media O2 spokesperson said: “From January, we’ll change how we communicate and implement price increases.

“All future price changes will be included in customers’ contracts in pounds and pence, giving them even more certainty about how their bills may change over the course of their contract.

“For new and re-contracting Virgin Media customers, this will be a flat increase of £3.50 a month, effective each April, while airtime price increases for O2 customers will be £1.80 a month, with device payment amounts remaining frozen.

“At less than the cost of a takeaway coffee or a sandwich, this represents excellent value for connectivity that our customers are using more than ever before, at the same time as we invest more than £5 million a day in our networks and services to give our customers the fast and reliable connectivity they increasingly rely on.”

Unlike the percentage-based price rises, the new flat-fee rates will disproportionately impact those on lower-cost packages. For example, if you’re a Virgin Media broadband subscriber who pays £25 a month, the £3.50 increase each month equates to a 14% price rise.

“But if you’re subscribed to a pricier £60 a month plan, the incoming price rise is only the equivalent of 5.8% — less than the CPI-linked price rises announced in April 2024.

Virgin Media O2 owns its own full-fibre broadband network, which is separate from BT-owned Openreach — the nationwide network of cables that powers Sky, BT, EE, Plusnet and TalkTalk broadband

VIRGIN MEDIA O2 PRESS OFFICE

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While Ofcom mandated clearer pricing information — so those weighing-up whether to sign-up to a new broadband contract could see in pounds and pence how much will be added to their bills over the course of their contract, rather than nebulous and shifting rates of inflation — it never set limits on the size of increases that could be implemented.

Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at Uswitch, has strongly criticised the price increases announced by Virgin Media O2, calling them “the steepest broadband price rises we’ve seen of all providers so far.”

“While Virgin Media O2 references investment and growing demand for data as reasons behind its price rises, with inflation falling significantly since last April, this decision still seems hard to justify,” he said.