- Communications companies raised their prices on millions of deals in April
- A new analysis now shows how much impact these increases are having on household bills
Broadband and mobile phone customers are now paying almost £300 a year more for the exact same services as a result of the huge price rises.
The average broadband deal rose in price by £182.40 a year in April, while the airtime portion of mobile phone contracts increased by £94.80, according to comparison firm Uswitch.
This is due to annual price increases mid-contract, linked to inflation from April, with customers seeing their bills rise by as much as 7.9 percent.
This means the average person paying for both broadband and a mobile phone now has to pay £277 more per year.
Connection costs: Brits are paying more for their broadband and mobile phone bills
Britons now pay £9 billion annually for broadband and £5.4 billion for mobile phones.
Loyal customers pay the biggest increases, according to Uswitch.
The average Brit will stay with their mobile and broadband provider for five years.
Mobile customers who stayed with their provider for eight to nine years suffered the most, paying an extra £13.20 on their bill last month.
That’s a huge price increase of 67 percent compared to the national average price increase of £7.90.
Those who switched mobile providers less than a year ago were best off, with an average increase of £6.70, or 15 per cent lower than the national average of £7.90.
| The length of time you spend with one company | Mobile monthly price increase | Monthly price increase for broadband |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 1 year | £6.70 | £11.75 |
| 1-2 years | £7.70 | £13.40 |
| 2-3 years | £8.50 | £15.80 |
| 3-4 years | £8.40 | £15.90 |
| 4-5 years | £7.90 | £12.80 |
| 5-6 years | seven pounds | £13.60 |
| 6-7 years | £11.70 | £15.60 |
| 7-8 years | £12.80 | £22.10 |
| 8-9 years | £13.20 | £21.90 |
| Source: Uswitch. All figures are averages | ||
Broadband customers who had stayed with their provider for seven to eight years were the worst off, paying an average of £22.10 extra this month.
That is 45 percent more than the national average price increase of £15.20.
By comparison, those who switched broadband providers less than a year ago saw their price increase on average £11.75 – 23 per cent lower than the national average of £15.20.
Belfast has the largest price increase for mobile telephony
Those in Belfast saw the biggest increase in mobile bills, now paying £11.60 more than last month, or almost double (47 per cent) the national average increase of £7.90.
Londoners have been hit with a double whammy: they are now paying £10.20 more for their mobile phone (29 per cent up on the national average increase of £7.90) and £17.70 more for broadband (up 16 per cent on from the typical increase of £15.20).
More than half of Brits (57 percent) say they did not expect price increases halfway through the contract, according to Uswitch.
Regulator Ofcom is considering plans to ban these inflation-related price rises from this summer, but not in time to avert this year’s rises.
Furthermore, any strict new rules would only apply to price increases for new contracts, not existing ones.
Sabrina Hoque, telecoms expert at Uswitch, said: ‘An expected Ofcom ban on inflation-related price increases will be welcome news for consumers, giving them greater clarity about what they will pay upfront for their contract. But this still does not undo the impact of the annual increases for millions of Britons.
‘A key factor is the compounding effect of the annual mid-contract price increases, as each year’s percentage increase will be based on an increasing total. After a few years this will really make a difference.’
Why have mobile and broadband costs increased?
Broadband and mobile companies are allowed to increase their costs every year. Most link these increases to inflation.
Price increases that occur from March to May are normally based on inflation figures from the previous December – often with an additional profit on top.
Price increases in 2024 amounted to a maximum of 7.8 percent – the December 2023 inflation rate was 4 percent, plus another 3.9 percent on top of that.
With cell phone deals, it is only the cost of airtime that can increase annually, not the refunds for the device itself.