Price Rise for Utility Warehouse UK Broadband and Phone Customers

Customers of UK ISP and energy provider Utility Warehouse are bracing themselves for a price hike in the cost of their broadband and phone package, which is set to be introduced from the 1st October 2018. Awkwardly that’s the same day that their Caller Display feature will become “free” (previously £2 per month).

The key change is in the underlying cost of their home phone (line rental) service, which will increase by 8.33% from £16.50 to £18 inc. VAT per month. The same increase will naturally also impact their fixed line broadband bundles, which are set out in their Tariffs Guide. On top of that their call set-up fees will increase to 19.2p per call.

In fairness UW are by no means the only ISP to increase their prices this year and all of the big players have already unveiled similar increases, although in this case UW has timed their increases to occur on exactly the same day as Ofcom’s new consumer regulations are due to be introduced (here). Perhaps they’re sending a subtle message.

One of the key changes above is a new requirement for providers to make Caller Display free to use, which would be fine if not for the fact that their wholesale suppliers are still charging them to use that same feature (Openreach even hiked the price). The inevitable outcome of this is that ISPs will have to recoup any lost revenue from elsewhere and hence price rises or feature reductions. Good job Ofcom, well thought out.

Admittedly there are other reasons why providers may need to increase their prices too. One example for this is because we’re all consuming much more data than before and ISPs have to compensate for the flexibility of their “unlimited” allowances somewhere. Likewise the loss of revenue from calling (it’s a service in decline) has a role to play too.

At the same time providers are also under pressure to adopt various other new rules, such as the forthcoming system for automatic compensation (here). On the plus side Ofcom’s rule against mid-contract price hikes means that customers should be able to exit their contract penalty free (you need to do this within 30 days of the notification) or you could use this as an opportunity to haggle for a lower price (Retentions – Tips for Cutting Your Broadband Bill Without Switching ISP).