Broadband ISP MTH Networks Softens UK Price Rises on OFNL

Internet provider MTH Networks, which sells full fibre (FTTP) broadband packages to customers covered by several different UK networks (e.g. Openreach, OFNL, Glide), has softened their approach to annual price rises for those on OFNL’s network (usually serves new build homes) and introduced a new social tariff.

The first change being made is to their pricing policy. The provider’s current Terms and Conditions for OFNL users, Clause 3(b), already limits in-contract price rises to a maximum of 10% to “protect you, the customer, from unknown and large bill rises” (most of the major ISPs have introduced annual hikes of around 13-17%). But this is now being reduced to just 5%, and they’re also pledging to lock prices for the rest of 2023 (i.e. no in-contract hikes of any kind).

In addition, they’re also planning to introduce several new broadband tariffs to the OFNL network from 1st May 2023. One of those is a Social Tariff for those on state benefits, which offers speeds of 30Mbps (5Mbps upload) for just £22.20 per month (plus a £30 one-off connection fee), although this is more expensive than most other such tariffs of a similar or better performance that tend to aim for the c.£15 mark.

The social tariff comes attached to a 3-month contract term (moving to 30-days thereafter) and is restricted to customers who are on Universal Credit or Pension Credit. Customers who take this must be able to prove they are in receipt of those benefits and will be required to confirm their eligibility every 90 days, which is a bit more annoying than the 12-months adopted by other ISPs (credits to Cameron for spotting this).

As for the other, more normal, tariffs. MTH will add a symmetric 450Mbps tier for £53.40 per month and a 900Mbps (450Mbps upload) option for £57 per month.