Broadband and mobile users to be hit with price hikes of up to 17.3% – here's what you need to know
Millions of BT, EE, O2, Plusnet, Shell, Sky, TalkTalk, Three, Virgin Media and Vodafone customers are being hit with price hikes of up to 17.3% this year, on the back of a sharp increase in the cost of living. We've a handy table below on what's happening and who's affected.
Providers can increase prices mid-contract by the rate of inflation plus an extra amount on top (usually around 4 percentage points), as set out in their terms and conditions.
This year, several of the firms blame the increases on their underlying and operating costs going up substantially as a result of regulatory requirements, higher energy prices and increased network costs.
Earlier this year, industry regulator Ofcom announced it would investigate the practice of mid-contract price hikes, amid concerns telecoms providers aren't being clear enough about what customers can expect to pay over the course of their contracts.
If you're out of contract, you don't have to accept any price hikes – use our Broadband Unbundled and Cheap Mobile Finder tools to compare the latest deals and see how much how you could save by switching.
Here's how much prices are rising by
Almost all of the biggest providers use either the December consumer prices index (CPI) or the January retail prices index (RPI) rate of inflation as part of their price rise calculation. Both figures have now been published, so we know the exact price hikes providers will implement.
Provider | How much prices will rise by | When hikes come in |
|---|---|---|
BT | ||
All BT broadband, landline, mobile and TV users (barring exclusions below) | 14.4% | 31 Mar 23 |
Landline-only users, and users on Home Essentials, Basic or Home Phone Saver (which are plans for those receiving benefits) | No price rise | N/A |
EE | ||
All broadband, landline and mobile users (barring exclusions below) | 14.4% | 31 Mar 23 |
Pay-as-you-go users and EE Mobile Basics users (Basics is a plan for those receiving benefits) | No price rise | N/A |
Now | ||
All broadband and landline users (barring exclusions below) | £42 a year (£3.50 a month) | 5 Jul 23 |
Now Broadband Basics customers (this is a plan for those receiving benefits) | No price rise | N/A |
TV-only customers | No price rise | N/A |
O2 | ||
Pay-monthly and Sim-only users with mobiles, tablets and/or smart watches who took out a deal or upgraded from 25 March 2021 | Up to 17.3% If you're on an O2 Refresh plan, the device part of your contract WON'T rise – so your overall increase will be less than 17.3%. | 1 Apr 23 |
Pay-monthly and Sim-only users with mobiles, tablets and/or smart watches who took out a deal or upgraded before 25 March 2021 | Up to 13.4% If you're on an O2 Refresh plan, the device part of your contract WON'T rise – so your overall increase will be less than 13.4%. | 1 Apr 23 |
Pay-as-you-go users | No price rise | N/A |
Plusnet | ||
Broadband and landline users who signed up after 6 Oct 20 | 14.4% | 31 Mar 23 |
Broadband and landline users who signed up before 7 Oct 20 | 14.4% This rise will only apply to call costs while within your contract's fixed term. As soon as your contract ends, prices will rise by 14.4% on your entire bill. | 31 Mar 23 |
All Plusnet mobile users | 14.4% | 31 Mar 23 (1) |
Shell | ||
Broadband and landline users who signed up before 9 Jan 23 (2) | 12.5% Shell's terms allow CPI + "up to" 3 percentage points - it has chosen a lower amount this year | 17 Apr 23 |
Broadband and landline users who signed up on or after 9 Jan 23 | No price rise until April 2024 | N/A |
Sky | ||
All broadband and TV users (barring exclusions below) | 8.1% (on average) | 1 Apr 23 (3) |
Sky Glass and Sky Stream TV customers within their minimum contract period | No price rise | N/A |
Sky Broadband Basics customers (this is a plan for those receiving benefits) | No price rise | N/A |
Home phone ('Sky Talk') users | - 'Pay as you talk' calls to UK landlines, mobiles and 03 numbers going up by 3p to 25p a minute | 1 Apr 23 |
Mobile users who are out of contract | 9% (on average) | 14 Feb 23 |
Mobile users who are in contract | No price rise | N/A |
TalkTalk | ||
Broadband and landline users (barring exclusions below) | 14.2% | 1 Apr 23 |
Fixed Price Plus customers out of minimum contract period | 10.5% | 1 Apr 23 |
Fixed Price Plus and Pre-Pay Saver customers within their minimum contract period | No price rise | N/A |
TalkTalk TV add-on users | TalkTalk does not use the CPI inflation figures for price rises on its TV package. Last year, it upped prices from £4 a month to £5 a month. So far, it hasn't confirmed any price changes for this year. | |
TalkTalk's "most vulnerable customers" (4) | No price rise | N/A |
Three | ||
Broadband and mobile users who signed up before 29 Oct 20 and haven't upgraded since | 13.4% | 1 May 23 |
Broadband and mobile users who joined between 29 Oct 20 and 31 Oct 22 | 4.5% | 1 Apr 23 |
Broadband and mobile users who joined on or after 1 Nov 22 | 14.4% | 1 Apr 23 |
Virgin Media | ||
Broadband, landline and TV users (barring exclusions below) | 13.8% (on average) | 1 Apr or 1 May 23 |
Users on Essential broadband or Talk Protected phone-only plans and "vulnerable" customers | No price rise | N/A |
Virgin Mobile | ||
All pay-monthly and Sim-only users (Virgin Mobile doesn't offer pay-as-you-go) | Up to 17.3% If you're on a Virgin Mobile Freestyle plan, the device part of your contract WON'T rise – so your overall increase will be less than 17.3%. Virgin Mobile users will be migrated to O2 this year, and will be subject to O2's price change formula from 2024. | 1 Apr 23 |
Vodafone | ||
Mobile, tablet or smart watch users who signed up between 8 Dec 20 and 23 Feb 23 | 14.4% If you're on a Vodafone Evo plan, the device part of your contract WON'T rise – the 14.4% rise will only apply to your airtime plan (what you pay for calls, texts and data.) | 1 Apr 23 |
Mobile, tablet or smart watch users who sign up on or after 24 Feb 23 | No price rise until April 2024 | N/A |
Mobile, tablet or smart watch users who signed up before 9 Dec 20 | 13.8% | 1 Apr 23 |
Broadband users on Vodafone Essentials (a plan for those receiving benefits) | No price rise | N/A |
Broadband and landline users who signed up between 2 Feb 21 and 23 Feb 23 | 14.4% | 1 Apr 23 |
Broadband and landline users who sign up on or after 24 Feb 23 | No price rise until April 2024 | N/A |
Broadband and landline users who signed up before 2 Feb 21 | 13.8% | 1 Apr 23 |
"Financially vulnerable" broadband and mobile users (5) | No price rise | N/A |
(1) A "small percentage" of Plusnet mobile customers did not get a price hike in March 2023 due to a technical issue – if you're affected, Plusnet will contact you and your price rise will take place in July 2023 instead. The charges will NOT be backdated to March. (2) Shell initially told us that all customers are subject to its annual price rise. It has since clarified that those who signed up on or after 9 January 2023 will not see a price increase until 2024. (3) Depending on when you joined Sky, your price rise may be delayed and come later in the year. Sky says this is so that you don't have two rises in one year. (4) TalkTalk told us it assesses vulnerability "across a wide range of criteria" on a case-by-case basis, but wouldn't specify which customers this would apply to. (5) This includes those experiencing financial difficulties. If you think this might apply to you, contact Vodafone to check what extra support it can offer.
Millions of customers are out of contract and free to leave, so check if you can switch and save
These firms have millions of customers who are out of contract and have simply been rolled on to often pricier tariffs without signing up for them. But if that's you, you can leave at any point penalty-free - and given the best broadband and mobile deals tend to be for newbies, there's a good chance you're overpaying anyway. Benchmark prices elsewhere and switch if you can get a cheaper deal.
See full help in our How to find cheap broadband deals guide and use our Broadband Unbundled and Cheap Mobile Finder tools to see what other deals are out there.
Alternatively, if you're willing to stay, you can try haggling and see if your provider will match or beat a deal you've found elsewhere. Virgin Media, Sky, TalkTalk, Three, and O2 are among the top 10 companies to haggle with, according to our latest poll of MSE users. See our broadband haggling and mobile haggling guides for more help.
Within your minimum contract term? In most cases, you CAN'T cancel penalty-free
If you're in contract – meaning you actively signed up to a new tariff within the last year or possibly two (do check) – the price rise will likely be part of that contract. In most cases this means you won't be able to cancel penalty-free.
There are two main exceptions where you may be able to leave penalty-free, which we've set out below. Crucially however, this right only applies within 30 days of getting your price rise notification. This means it's now likely too late for most, though it's still worth checking if you have either of these:
Sky broadband and home phone – price hikes on these packages aren't written into contracts, so you can leave within 30 days of being notified about the increases without having to pay early termination fees. However, this is NOT the case for TV packages. See our Sky prices hikes story for full info.
Virgin Media broadband, home phone and TV – Virgin's price hikes for this year were not written into contracts, so you can leave penalty-free within 30 days of getting your price rise notification. See our Virgin Media price hikes story for full info.
In other cases, if you're unhappy with the price rise, you should note when your contract's due to end and start looking for new deals nearer the time.
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10 December 2024
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