One of our eagle eyed readers (Agrajag) has spotted (here) that new customers to AOL UK's broadband service will now be subject to a standard 18 month contract period, up from the previous default of 12 months.

Sadly that's not all; new users living outside of AOL's unbundled network coverage will find monthly Broadband Silver (£14.99) and Broadband Platinum (£29.99) prices raised to £24.99 and £39.99 respectively!:


The move has clearly been heavily influenced by AOL UK's new parent company, The Carphone Warehouse, which does something similar with its TalkTalk brand.

Typically while the 18 month contracts had been expected following earlier revisions, the massive price hike was not. In the short term existing customers would appear to be safe, although that may change.

For many the thought of paying £39.99 per month (non-LLU) for a 'Fair Usage Policy' restricted 'up to' 8Mbps package is going to be unpleasant. AOL's two key selling points have long been its price and content, now it may only have one.