UPDATE Vodafone UK Hits Home “Fibre Broadband” Customers with Price Rise

Existing customers of Vodafone’s fixed line Home Broadband packages (“Fibre” FTTC) are being informed about an annual price increase that will hit them from 1st 6th August 2017, which is expected to add around an extra +£1.50 per month to their existing subscription fees.

The move means that packages like their ‘Unlimited Fibre 38‘ (FTTC) service will rise from £28 per month (this includes Line Rental) for non-mobile customers today to £29.50 per month from next month (reminder: existing Vodafone Mobile customers save £3 off this price), which reflects an increase of 5.36%. This is roughly in keeping with the sort of hikes that we tend to see elsewhere from BT, TalkTalk and other major ISPs.

Apparently this increase will only impact existing customers, and a subset of those at that, although we’ve not been given precise details. New customers will continue to see the current pricing.

A Vodafone Spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk:

“We are committed to offering our customers the best, all-round Home Broadband service possible. However, this means we have invest more, and as a consequence, we need to adjust our prices from time-to-time. Despite there being a price increase for some customers using our Fibre Broadband package, it is still one of the most affordable offerings in the market.”

Customers will no doubt be unhappy at the news, although it’s worth pointing out that Ofcom’s rule for mid-contract price hikes may allow some customers to exit their contract penalty free (provided you do this within 30 days of the notification). Just remember that other ISPs will be imposing similar increases and Vodafone’s packages are indeed some of the cheapest, especially for FTTC lines.

The reasons for such hikes tend to vary, although more often than not it’s 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 (automatic compensation for broadband faults and Internet snooping laws etc.).