Broadband and phone price increases

If I sign up for a years electricity supply at a particular price then that is what I get. However it appears that if I sign up for a year or 18 month Broadband contract it appears that the supplier can raise the price during the contract and then tell me to quit in 30 days if I don't like it.

No doubt in the T&Cs but should this practice be allowed?

They seem to look at it a different way - broadband providers give you a discount on the standard rate (as does my mobile provider) whereas gas/electric tend to give a fixed rate.

Nothing wrong or illegal in giving a discount - it just isn't always clear that is what they are doing. And with BT at least it is covered by the Ts&Cs.

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

If I sign up for a years electricity supply at a particular price then that is what I get. However it appears that if I sign up for a year or 18 month Broadband contract it appears that the supplier can raise the price during the contract and then tell me to quit in 30 days if I don't like it.

No doubt in the T&Cs but should this practice be allowed?

Which isp have or are going to do this?
And is it related the the BB or the phone side...


02 have it in their mobile contracts that the price will increase each year.

Some electricity supply contracts are at fixed prices and others are at variable prices, maybe advertising is a bit clearer in the electricity marketplace, but the same applies in broadband, though TalkTalk are the main fixed price contract supplier at present.

Ofcom is pushing down various wholesale prices in the next year or so.

Another massive difference electricity you pay per Unit but fixed line broadband is almost always unlimited.

BT and Vodafone are examples. The problem is that it makes it difficult to select a supplier with price as a significant criteria if you don't know whether they will stick to their price. Also changing supplier is likely to cause some inconvenience. You probably need to be present to make the change.

I am looking at the total cost of a broadband service.

TalkTalk are promising no price rise within contract in their TV adverts. Maybe that will push others to do the same.

When have BT increased Broadband prices, when in a fixed term contract?

Sure they have increased line rental. But that is NOT broadband, which is what the OP mentions...

The increase is for the phone side of things, sure you can't have BB without a line. But that is not what the OP asked.

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

If I sign up for a years electricity supply at a particular price then that is what I get.

But with energy, that "particular price" is usually a fixed priced which is often higher than their cheapest (but variable) current prices. Would you prefer broadband suppliers to take that appoach? I don't think Joe Public would be too keen on such a pricing model. I think energy companies only introduced such pricing when energy wholesale prices were/are increasing every 2 mins...

This year BT only increased line rental but in previous years they have increased broadband. So, this year is an anomaly and it is quite possible that next year could see broadband price increases. 2016 actually saw increases on broadband packages, line rental and TV all introduced on 3 July.

I'm with EDF Energy and have regularly moved between fixed deals. The deals can all be broken part way through with no penalty and can change mid deal if a better deal comes out (which has also happened quite often).

I am currently on a fixed deal to June 2018 which is about 10% cheaper than the variable rate.

Most of the fixing deals that EDF do are cheaper than their variable rate.

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

If I sign up for a years electricity supply at a particular price then that is what I get.

Not sure if its still the case but some gas/electricity deals could be price capped on kWh usage (potentially the price per kWh could drop) but the daily standing charge is/was fixed for the duration of the deal.

In reply to a post by AdrianPH:

TalkTalk are promising no price rise within contract in their TV adverts. Maybe that will push others to do the same.

I hope that you are right and it is interesting that Talk Talk have chosen to advertise this feature.

I regard mid contract price inceases as essentially deceptive. The suppliers are essentially hoping that you won't botther to move. Further it makes it makes it difficult to use price as a method of selecting a supplier.

Of course it's anti-competitive and "unfair". Personally, I don't think it should be allowed without giving the consumer similar rights in the other direction, where the effort to stop a proposed change by the consumer is similar to the effort to stop a proposed change by the supplier.

But the reality is, it's happening and almost every major provider does it 1-2 times a year. Maybe to increase profit, partly just to pay for things like increasing usage meaning that backhaul has to be upgraded, things like that.