Broadband and mobile customers will be trapped between combined price rises of more than £60 a year or exit fees in excess of £500, research has found.
As the Money team has reported throughout the month, telecoms firms are set to implement inflation-linked April price rises.
Most big providers include in their contracts increases of 3.9% plus December’s inflation rate each year, which crept up to 4% in 2023.
Consumer group Which? has found these price hikes can be equivalent to paying for almost an extra month of service.
“It’s outrageous that telecoms firms could yet again trap their customers between inflation-busting price hikes and punitive exit fees this April, despite Ofcom declaring this practice causes substantial consumer harm,” Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, said.
Many firms imposed price increases of more than 14% last year, given the high rate of inflation.
Which? wants providers to cancel the hikes.
BT, EE and Plusnet have confirmed they will be going ahead with 7.9% broadband cost increases in April, Which? reported.
That’s £35.92 extra for the average BT user a year – or a £218.64 exit fee (for those with 12 months remaining on their contract), according to Which?.
Vodafone SIM-only mobile customers face the same percentage change, resulting in the average customer paying £27.36 more a year or shelling out £339.75 to exit the contract early.
EE mobile customers face a £24.84 hike or a £289.64 exit fee, while Three mobile customers face a £19.20 hike or a £235.24 exit fee