New and re-contracting Virgin Media broadband customers will receive a flat price increase each year, effective in April, of £3.50 per month. O2 customers will see the cost of their airtime plans increase by £1.80 per month, effective each April.
Virgin Media O2 claimed some other mobile providers have announced a tiered approach and highlighted increases of “from £1” in public, but many of their customers will see rises of £1.80 or more. In contrast, it claims its approach is “fully open and transparent” so customers will know exactly how their bills will change.
In a blog post, Virgin Media O2’s chief commercial officer Christian Hindennach blamed the price hikes on people using their broadband connections and mobile phones more.
He wrote: “It is against this backdrop of ever-growing demand for data – with usage on our fixed and mobile networks up by 13% and 26% respectively last year – that we include an annual price increase in customers’ contracts.
“While we appreciate they are never welcome, they are necessary, and any increase on a customer’s bill is greatly outweighed by the £5m we invest every single day in our networks and services to meet increased demand for fast and reliable connectivity.”
Wellness and wellbeing holidays: Travel insurance is essential for your peace of mind
Out of the pandemic lockdowns, there’s a greater emphasis on wellbeing and wellness, with
Sponsored by Post Office
Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at Uswitch.com, said the broadband price hike was the steepest he’d seen from any provider so far.
He said: “While Virgin Media O2 references investment and growing demand for data as reasons behind its price rises, with inflation falling significantly since last April, this decision still seems hard to justify. These new increases suggest Virgin Media O2 is taking the Ofcom rule change as an opportunity to make price rises higher than they otherwise would have been from 2025.
“The new flat-rate increases mean that from January 2025, new or re-contracting Virgin Media customers taking a cheaper broadband package at £25 a month would see a price increase of 14% each year. Customers on a mobile deal at £15 a month would see an increase of 12% annually.”
Households overpaying for broadband
The Virgin Media O2 price hikes come as research shows that millions of people are wasting their cash by overpaying for broadband they could get cheaper elsewhere.
Go.Compare found that more than nine-and-a-half million households (34%) are overpaying for their broadband. Researchers at the price comparison site worked out that, in total, Brits are paying £53m more than they need to for their broadband every month – equal to £637m each year.
According to the survey, the majority of Brits opt to pay for top-end broadband speeds. About a third (34%) pay for broadband of more than 150Mbps – but GoCompare estimates that just a fifth (21%) of internet users really need such a high speed.
More than a quarter (27%) pay for speeds of 51-100Mbps, but roughly only 12% of internet users actually need speeds in this range. Only 3% of the country settles for speeds of 15Mbps or less, yet this would be enough for 13% of users.
