It's time to ban above inflation mid-contract mobile and broadband price hikes – new MSE research shows Ofcom's rules mean 75% pay more
Millions of broadband and mobile customers have been clobbered by higher bills thanks to Ofcom's mid-contract price hike solution, exclusive research from MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) can now reveal. It comes as MSE founder Martin Lewis also gives evidence to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee on broadband, water and energy costs, calling on the Government and regulator to do the "bleedin' obvious" – ban above-inflation price hikes.
Watch: Martin Lewis: 'It's bloomin' obvious – ban above-inflation, mid-contract price rises'
Martin discusses MSE's new research on ITV's Good Morning Britain on Monday 29 June (watch the full episode on ITVX):
Transcript of what Martin said on Good Morning Britain
Martin Lewis: "The Ofcom regulation is a bit like saying, 'it's OK if I come up to you in the street and punch you in the face as long as I've told you in advance I'm going to punch you in the face.' You know, you're still getting the pain.
"Back in 2024, most broadband and mobile providers had written locked into their contracts that you would get an above-inflation price hike, so they would link it to RPI inflation plus 4% inflation each April in the middle of your contract.
"Now people, including me, were up in arms about that. The regulator came in and said, 'look, we're going to change this. We're going to ban inflation-linked price rises, and what firms will have to do is this transparency solution, where they will have to tell you in advance, in 'pounds and pence', what your rise will be'.
"So now what we get is, we sign up to a contract, and we're told the price will rise £3 or £4 a month every April. But what the problem is, we have transparency and we have a transparency that we're being ripped off.
"We've analysed 47,000 mobile phone and broadband tariffs and found that in 75% of cases, the price hike you get now under Ofcom's new system is bigger than the old RPI-plus system. And in 99% of cases, it's above inflation.
"So what Ofcom has done, is it effectively has pushed the market in favour of companies, it has added an inflationary rise that fuels inflation itself, when what it should have done – you asked me for the solution, Ed [GMB presenter] – it's bloomin' obvious. Ban above-inflation, mid-contract price rises."
Exclusive MSE research shows MOST are worse off under Ofcom's updated rules
In 2024, there was an outcry as millions saw their prices rise by up to 17% mid-contract, due to embedded above-inflation linked rises. In January 2025, Ofcom, the communications regulator, ignored the advice of MSE, Citizens Advice and others to ban the rises and instead introduced rules requiring mobile, broadband and pay TV providers to:
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Set out any price rises in pounds and pence before consumers took out a new contract. For example: "Your broadband bill will rise by £4/month each April."
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Yet it also offered firms a 'get-out-of-jail-free' clause by saying they could still hike prices mid-contract if they give consumers 30 days after notification to leave penalty free (which means when you get your new higher bill it is already too late). This route is used by Sky.
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The net result is these rules effectively banned price hikes directly linked to inflation.
Yet in new research MSE, the UK's biggest consumer website, analysed over 47,000 tariffs (from mobile and broadband firms with the biggest market share) and found that three in four were worse off under Ofcom's new system than they would have been under the previous inflation-linked approach. Plus, in almost all cases, all customers faced above-inflation price rises under the new system. Those who suffer most are those who have tried to keep their costs down by choosing cheaper tariffs.
As an example, someone on a two-year Vodafone 3GB mobile contract, who signed up at £10/month in December 2024, would have seen a £1.80/month rise in April 2025 (so an 18% rise) and again in April 2026, leaving them paying £13.60/month now.
Under the old price hike system, where Vodafone increased bills by inflation + 3.9%, the rise would have been 6.4% and 7.3% respectively, leaving them paying £11.40/month now, 16% less than under the new system. Vodafone isn’t an isolated case, as similar is true across many other networks.
Data Allowance / Broadband Speed | Proportion worse off compared to previous price hikes approach | Proportion experiencing above inflation price rises after the move to pounds and pence price hikes |
|---|---|---|
Under 10 GB (Mobile) | 99% | 100% |
10GB-100GB (Mobile) | 98% | 100% |
Over 100GB (Mobile) | 81% | 100% |
Unlimited (Mobile) | 28% | 99% |
150MB (Broadband) | 100% | 100% |
500GB (Broadband) | 90% | 100% |
900GB (Broadband) | 65% | 100% |
47,000 tariffs assessed from April 2024 to March 2026, using MSE’s mobile and broadband comparison tools Mobile providers analysed: EE, O2, Three, Vodafone. Broadband providers analysed: BT, Plusnet, TalkTalk, Virgin Media, Vodafone.
Martin Lewis: 'This was frustratingly predictable'
This was frustratingly predictable. Let's be plain, it provisionally looks like the regulator's intervention resulted in most contracts costing more. Transparency only goes so far, we don't want customers overpaying just because they were told about it first.
The solution has always been bleedin' obvious. Just ban above-inflation mid-contract price hikes. Of course, many, including me, would prefer a ban on any mid-contract rise, as the price you sign up for should be the price you pay over the length of the contract. Yet that risks possible market distortion, as firms may lift initial prices as a provision against unexpected costs mid-contract.
So, a simple, 'no rises above inflation' rule seems a reasonable compromise. And our research shows compared to Ofcom's solution, if this had been in place it would've meant lower rises for over 99% of people.
There was a chance to fix this last year. The Government called Ofcom and providers around a table to write a 'Telecoms Charter' on the back of me and others shouting about O2's outrageous 'price hike on a price hike' – when it increased costs mid-contract by even more than it'd pre-announced, using the loophole that allowed this if it let people leave within 30 days of notification.
Yet all that resulted in was firms promising they wouldn't do hikes on hikes. It didn't stop the Sky carve-out, which lets it ignore transparency rules, so long as it lets people leave within 30 days of notification.
If that rule must stay, at the very least there should be two windows – you should be able to leave within 30 days of notification and again within 30 days after the price rise, which is when many people actually notice it. Better still though, just scrap the whole thing and ban rises above inflation.
It's those on low and medium tariffs who lose out the most
MSE analysis shows Ofcom's new rules have made the vast majority of tariffs more than they would have been otherwise, and those who have marginally gained are those with the highest, often premium, tariffs.
For example, a mobile customer faced with a £2.50 April increase would typically need to have been paying more than £34/month to benefit compared with the old rules, while a broadband customer facing a £4 rise would typically need to have been paying almost £55/month.
Both of those figures are far above what people need to pay if they are checking available deals. You can get unlimited mobile tariffs for a cost of around '£11/month' and superfast 900MB broadband for '£22/month' (factoring in other discounts).
A family of four, with four mobile contracts on low data allowances and a basic broadband package, could pay £14/month more from April 2026 and £28/month more from April 2027, an increase of 39% on the initial monthly price when they signed up.
Mobile contract type | Original price | Price rise under the 'pounds and pence' system | Price rise under the old 'inflation-linked' mechanism | Current inflation (CPI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Low GB (1GB) | £8 | 31% | 7.3% | 2.8% |
Low GB (2GB) | £11 | 23% | 7.7% | 2.8% |
Low GB (5GB) | £18 | 14% | 7.3% | 2.8% |
Medium GB (25GB) | £25 | 10% | 7.3% | 2.8% |
Unlimited (high cost) | £35 | 7% | 7.3% | 2.8% |
These percentages are calculated using each provider's pounds and pence price rises and inflation-linked formula (e.g. RPI/CPI + 3/4%) using the relevant inflation figure for the contract's first price rise.
Broadband contract type | Original price | Price rise under the 'pounds and pence' system | Price rise under the old 'inflation-linked' mechanism | Current inflation (CPI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic (150 Mbps) | £18 | 22% | 7.1% | 2.8% |
Medium (500 Mbps) | £26 | 13% | 7.3% | 2.8% |
Super-fast (900 Mbps) | £34.99 | 11% | 7.3% | 2.8% |
These percentages are calculated using each provider's pounds and pence price rises and inflation-linked formula (e.g. RPI/CPI + 3/4%) using the relevant inflation figure for the contract's first price rise.
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