Budget ISP TalkTalk has predictably announced a raft of annual price rises and service changes for their broadband and phone products, most of which will be introduced on 1st December 2014. Customers who don’t like the changes have been told that they can “cancel by contacting us within 30 days of receiving your price notification letter“. But some new benefits have also been added (free mobile SIMs for Plus TV etc.).
The changes represent somewhat of an annual event in the United Kingdom’s telecoms industry, with all of the major broadband and phone providers tending to follow BT’s earlier announcement from August 2014 (here). So what’s changing this time?
Firstly, the standard cost of Phone Line Rental will increase from £15.95 now to £16.70 per month (+4.7%) and customers who take their cheaper pre-paid annual line rental (Value Line Rental) will, effective from the slightly earlier date of 30th November 2014, pay £180.36 per year (equivalent to £15.03 per month) instead of £172.20 as it is now (equivalent to £14.35 per month).
Meanwhile customers who still take TalkTalk’s old “Plus” calls and broadband bundle can now expect to pay £18.50 per month (up by +£3 from £15.50), which seems designed to encourage an upgrade to their newer “Plus TV” package; prices for their SimplyBroadband, Essentials TV and Plus TV packages remain unchanged. TalkTalk will also be asking customers on their shared unbundled (SMPF LLU) lines, including older AOL Broadband subscribers, to pay a whopping £5 extra per month.
In terms of boosts (optional upgrades), TalkTalk’s International Calls Boost will increase from £3.50 per month to £5, although this will now include calls to landline and mobile phones in 22 additional countries. Similarly their Mobile Minutes Boost 100 (£3) is to be scrapped and replaced with Mobile Minutes Boost Unlimited for £5 per month. Next up the Anytime UK Calls Boost (£5) will also increase to £7.50 per month, although crucially customers will also get unlimited calls to mobile phones. Finally, the call connection fee on TalkTalk’s phone network will increase by 1p to 16p on the 1st January 2015.
A TalkTalk Spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk:
“Our customers are talking, watching, streaming and downloading more than ever, not just at home but on the go. To meet their growing needs, we’re adding more to their packages. Mobile now comes as standard for our Plus customers, as we’ve included a free SIM worth £90. We’re also introducing more ways for customers to save money on their bills each month.
As we continue to invest in improvements to our service, some prices will increase. TalkTalk still remains Britain’s lowest price, offering a saving of up to £184 a year in comparison to BT.”
It’s noted above that customers will also get some additional benefits out of the ISPs planned price rises and that occurs in other areas too. For example, TalkTalk’s TV Entertainment and TV Entertainment Extra boosts will actually be reduced by £5 a month and all Plus TV customers will also be eligible for a free mobile SIM packed with minutes, texts and data (100 minutes, 250 texts and 200MB of data).
UPDATE 2:07pm
Added a comment from TalkTalk above.
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