UK ISP TalkTalk Details 1st August 2017 Price Hikes for Broadband

Customers of TalkTalk’s existing broadband and phone (line rental) packages have this week been informed that their prices are set to be hiked by between 4-6% from 1st August 2017 and some increases will be introduced from tomorrow. The cost of calls is also set to rise.

A spokesperson for the ISP said, “We’ve been investing millions in improving our unlimited broadband network, making our TV service faster and simpler to use, and introducing industry-leading security services and calling features which we provide as standard … making such improvements mean that some prices will increase.” However TalkTalk claims that their users will continue to make savings in comparison to BT, Sky Broadband and Virgin Media.

Call Charges

Package Charges

The news will of course cause frustration for existing subscribers, although all of the largest ISPs tend to raise their prices at least once a year. However Ofcom does have a rule for mid-contract price hikes, which may allow some customers to exit their contract penalty free (you must do this within 30 days of the notification).

The reasons for such hikes tend to vary, although it’s usually a combination of inflation, rising data usage and the fact that ISPs have to adopt a lot of new measures as part of changing regulation (e.g. automatic compensation for broadband faults, warning emails for Internet piracy, new TV content / services and Internet snooping laws).