This topic

Price rise.

somniac — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:03:02 GMT

How come BT gets to put the monthly cost up 10% ?

Re: Price rise.

gg30340 — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:08:50 GMT

Because Ofcom did away with inflation linked price rises allowing the ISPs to increase as they see fit as long as they tell you what it will be when you take out your contract.

Statement: Prohibiting inflation-linked price rises

Protecting consumers from uncertain and volatile inflation

Re: Price rise.

somniac — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:09:13 GMT

I am out of contract. About to go up to £49 a month for 30Mb including DV. Is that alright?

Re: Price rise.

Kimberlin — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:10:36 GMT

It’s exactly the reason I switch ISP every two years. The annual price increase is little more than an insulting joke in my worthless opinion.

Re: Price rise.

gg30340 — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:15:46 GMT

If that is what BT want you to pay then that is right.

If you are out of your Fixed Term Contract you will have lost any discounts from the "full" price of the package that you may have had and BT can increase your package cost to what ever they want because you are no longer in a Fixed Term Contract.

It is up to you if you want to pay it or move to another ISP or enter a new Fixed Term Contract with BT which may bring that price down.

Re: Price rise.

Kodikid — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:17:00 GMT

Broadband goes up by £4 end of March for BT broadband

Yours is increasing because you're renewing as a existing customer

Shop around

Re: Price rise.

Kimberlin — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:28:09 GMT

@Kodikid

I’m still going to wait until the end of March to see what the new financial year offerings will be. I can literally guarantee that the low prices some ISP’s are currently offering, will remain the same for new customers irrespective of the annual price increase. New customer pricing rarely moves because if everyone was forced to pay the ludicrous annual increases, eventually most households would be forced out of broadband altogether. The whole system is sick.

Re: Price rise.

iniltous — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:49:55 GMT

All major providers put up prices annually, Ofcom outlawed increases based on CPI + % , so with the exception of Sky , they all raise prices £3 or £4 on broadband each year , that’s not unique to BT .
Sky are different in that the still put prices by by a similar amount but allow customers to leave penalty free if they advise Sky that they reject the increase and then switch to someone else within a short period after the increase is announced.

BT Essential broadband (40Mb , sold as 36Mb ) is currently £25a month , that price is for new customers, when I recently renewed I was (after speaking to BT ) offered pretty much the new customer price for my F2 broadband, but it goes up in early in the year , as do all the major providers .

Re: Price rise.

Kimberlin — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:52:36 GMT

@iniltous

You are obviously correct in everything you’ve said. Fact is though, the baseline broadband charges for new customers have barely changed in the last few years. It’s only those folks who never renegotiate their broadband/phone package or never switch that end up paying a stupid amount of money every month. I’m paying just £2 a month more for the same broadband speed as I was paying 3 years ago.

Re: Price rise.

WSH — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 15:03:11 GMT

As people have said…move.

I initiated a move to Sky as they wouldn’t give me a sensible price. The move subsequently fell through because Sky screwed it up, but in the meantime it provoked BT into offering me a sensible price. I’m now paying 45% less than I was and for double the speed.

Re: Price rise.

iniltous — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 15:11:48 GMT

If people just renew instead of calling and asking for something equivalent to a new customer price , then they are disadvantaged, but that’s not unique to BT , posting on here what a BT customer would pay Sky as a new Sky customer needs to be compared to what an existing Sky customer would pay BT as new BT customer , otherwise it’s not comparable.

I’m certainly not saying BT are as cheap as some , just that the ‘Im paying BT £49 and can change to Sky for £25 although true , misses out the ‘I also could call BT and get my bill down from £49 to £28 ‘ because this is also true , but never mentioned….Saving £3 or £4 is still a saving and justification enough if justification is needed to switch , no need to make the £25 cheaper claim which generally isn’t a like for like comparison.

Much like you , my renewed BT ‘deal’ put me back to what I was initially paying 2 years ago ,but I accept that in March this year and the following March , £4 will be added , and in just under 2 years , should I renew I’d expect the price to be not the cheapest but competitive.

Re: Price rise.

Kimberlin — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 15:23:06 GMT

@iniltous

I’m currently paying £33.99 a month for 500mbps broadband FTTP with no landline. I accept that come April, I’ll be paying £37.99 a month. Come April ‘27 however, I won’t even be having a conversation with my current ISP about renegotiating a price because I’ve got zero interest in wasting time and the breath in my lungs talking to them, I’ll just switch using OTS again.

All that said, if EE are still offering dosh to break my current contract early at the end of March this year and provided I get the same speed as I get now, I’m sure the new customer price may well be worth jumping ship for. We’ll see.

Re: Price rise.

Jane2018 — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 18:55:34 GMT

In a few months I may try to get my broadband and landline down from usually over £80 to something else but I am not holding my breath. I don't think i have been in a contract consciously at least ever - we moved here and got the landline and internet in 1997.

Re: Price rise.

iniltous — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 19:13:39 GMT

switching providers every time a contract expires is a perfectly reasonable step to take , some may take a different view , possibly thinking better the devil you know , and in my case avoiding the hassle of not having client access to my email …however this has a cost limit , should the differential be too much I’d switch, but ultimately you take your path , others will take a different one .

Re: Price rise.

somniac — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 12:32:35 GMT

Switching providers is a reasonable step but I am 74 and can’t be bothered. Frankly I have better things to do. Ringing them to negotiate a better price is something I have done many times in the past but now also can’t be bothered. No one should be in the position of having to haggle over the price of such an essential service. Imagine having to haggle over the price of water or electricity. BT and other providers are a law unto themselves. I shall probably just renew my contract at the same price which is what they have offered. But my original question still goes. How can a 10% rise be justified?

Re: Price rise.

WSH — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 12:57:00 GMT

Oh, I think you will end up having haggle over water/electricity etc.

What do you think smart meters are for, if not to setup for spot pricing on demand in the future? They’re certainly not to do the customer any favours and someone will have to foot the bill for them at some point.

…but for what it’s worth, I fully agree with you. I posted many months ago on ISPreview, when they first proposed switching to a fixed price and everyone was getting excited about it. £3 (as it was then) is 10% on a £30 package. OFCOM are not doing anyone any favours.

Re: Price rise.

Kimberlin — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 13:29:02 GMT

Perhaps I should probably be far less critical of those that literally cannot be bothered to either renegotiate their broadband contract or switch ISP.

Congratulations if you’re wealthy enough not to even care about how much you’re over paying, you’re probably subsidising cheaper broadband for those of us that refuse to be taken for a ride. So please, keep forking out more than you have to so I don’t have to 👍

Literally, switching is now easier than it ever has been with OTS, you don’t even need to talk to your ISP anymore, a few minutes online, pick a date and switch. The process can be as easy or difficult as you want it to be depending on your current set up.

Re: Price rise.

gg30340 — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 14:08:29 GMT

@somniacwrote:
But my original question still goes. How can a 10% rise be justified?

It was answered in message 2.

Re: Price rise.

iniltous — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 15:01:13 GMT

@somniac … if you can’t be bothered to call BT or initiate a switch elsewhere, login to your BT account and offers and see what your personalised offers are , In my case the personal offer was quite reasonable, in fact I initially took that route towards renewal but a glitch made the online renewal fail , you may find an offer saves some money on what you currently pay , and you simply press a button to take the offer , but you still get the increase in March , unless you pay a couple of months of out if contract price and then take a deal in March .

Re: Price rise.

WSH — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 15:05:40 GMT

In my case those offers were equally ridiculous.

It was only after I initiated a move to Sky, and they screwed it up, that I went back to MyBT for another look and, miraculously, the offers had changed to something quite reasonable.

....hence, you're stuck with me.