Post Office Confirm UK Phone and Broadband Price Rises for 2018

Customers of the Post Office’s UK home phone and broadband ISP packages have been braced for a series of price rises that will be introduced from 1st May 2018, which will see some services increase their monthly rental by between £1 to £2 extra and call charges will also hike upwards.

Several operators (e.g. BT and Sky Broadband) have already announced their annual price increases and today they’ve been joined by the Post Office, which appears to be following a similar path. As usual some of the increases are more dramatic than others, with the cost of calling rising far faster than broadband charges.

The good news is that if you’re currently signed up to a Fixed Broadband or Home Phone promotional offer then the PO can “guarantee your package price will stay the same throughout the duration of your contract,” although obviously that will change once you go out of contract. Customers can also get an extra 10% off calls to loved ones (i.e. the ten UK landline, mobile or international numbers you call most often).

Broadband Changes

Phone Changes

Most of the major ISPs will increase their prices by a similar or greater amount at least once a year. One reason for this is because we’re all consuming much more data than before and ISP’s 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 lots of pressure to adopt various new rules and regulations, such as the system for sending millions of copyright warning emails / “subscriber alerts” (here). Not to mention new internet snooping measures (here) and plans for automatic compensation (here), as well as the need to introduce new content or services.

As usual customers could also use such increases as an opportunity to haggle for a lower price (Retentions – Tips for Cutting Your Broadband Bill Without Switching ISP), although your success here may vary.