UK government warns mobile and broadband groups against 14% price rise

The UK government has warned mobile and broadband providers that it is not “right” for them to raise prices by more than 14 percent from April 2023, as customers contend with the surge in living costs. Much of the fixed broadband and mobile and phone market has in recent years implemented price increases in April of each year for new customers and those already in contract. Telecommunications groups tend to base rises on the previous year’s annualized rate of inflation, plus about 3.9 percent. According to official data, consumer price inflation was at 10.5 percent in the year to December 2022, meaning most mobile and broadband tariffs will rise by an average of 14.4 percent. Michelle Donelan, the culture secretary, said: “At a time when families are struggling to pay their bills, imposing above-inflation price hikes is not the right thing to do.” The rises will follow scrutiny from regulators and politicians over telecom companies’ transparency with customers — particularly those who are in a contract — about future rises.