Mobile and broadband customers across the country will soon be hit by price hikes of up to 13%. It comes as telecoms companies begin confirming the rates of mid-contract price rises set to take place from April 1.
New rates, however, will look slightly different compared to previous years as industry regulator Ofcom implemented new regulation at the start of the year, dictating that telecoms companies display their mid-contract price rises in pound figures, rather than linking prices to inflation.
This was done to increase transparency and make it more clear to customers what price rises they can expect and when they will actually occur. Under this new system, Virgin Media customers will see bills go up by £.3.50 from April while Vodafone customers will see prices go up by £1.80 per month.
However, these prices will only take affect for customers who took out a contract on or after January 9 and July 2, respectively. Meanwhile, customers who signed up for contracts before the new policy was put in place may still be hit by inflation-linked price increases.
According to Uswitch: “Under new Ofcom rules, anyone who signs up for a new broadband deal from January 17 2025 will instead be on a fixed annual price increase, which isn’t tied to any inflation figures.”
When UK internet implemented new pounds and pence rule
Some of the biggest mobile and broadband providers brought in the pounds and pence rule early ahead of Ofcom’s official deadline. This means if you took a contract on or after the respective date, you will not be hit by inflation-linked price changes:
- BT/EE/Plusnet – April 1, 2024
- Vodafone – July 2, 2024
- TalkTalk – August 12, 2024
- Three – September 1, 2024
- Tesco Mobile – December 17, 2024
- Virgin Media/O2 – January 9, 2025
How much your mobile and broadband bill could increase
While customers who signed up before the cut-off dates will still likely see inflation-linked price rises, although this may not be as bad as previous years as inflation rates have eased significantly. Furthermore, different companies will use different rates of inflation.
For example, Virgin Media/O2 uses the Retail Price Index (RPI) while Vodafone uses Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate of inflation.
Vodafone
For customers who took out a pay monthly plan between August 11, 2021 and July 1, 2024, will be subjected to an increase by the CPI plus 3.9%. For example, if the CPI rate was 4% your monthly charge would increase by 7.9%.
Vodafone provides the following examples:
- From £10 to £10.79 per month
- From £20 to £21.58 per month
- From £30 to £32.37 per month
- From £40 to £43.16 per month
However, if you took out a plan after July 2, 2024, you will instead see a price increase of £1.80 each year.
Virgin Media
Typically, Virgin Media uses the January RPI to adjust its mid-contract price rises. For example, January’s RPI of 3.5% (plus 3.9% flat out) would see a £25.99 a month increase go to £27.91 a month in April.
However, if you took a contact with Virgin media from January 9, 2025, you will instead see a flat increase of £3.50 a month. Therefore, a £25.99 per month contract would instead go up to £29.49 a month – a percentage increase of 13.46%.
O2
Similar to Virgin Media, O2 customers who took out a contract before January 9 with an Airtime plan will see their bills go up by £1.80 for voice plans and £0.75p for Data Only and Smartwatch Plans.