Virgin Media O2 customers face the highest mid-contract price rises of any major broadband or mobile provider this year, with increases of up to 8.8% scheduled for April. The rise is based on the retail prices index figure of 4.9% plus an additional 3.9%, following last year's 17% hikes.
Consumer group Which? has warned that customers are caught between accepting the price rise or paying crippling exit fees of up to £404 if they leave their contract 12 months early. The average O2 Sim-only mobile customer will see an annual increase of £26.44, the highest in percentage terms among networks.
Rivals including BT, EE, Sky, Three and Vodafone have confirmed price rises of between 6.7% and 7.9%, significantly lower than Virgin Media O2. O2 customers who signed contracts before March 2021 will see a smaller increase of around 5%.
Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at Which?, said: 'Virgin Media and O2 customers face a lose-lose choice between huge price hikes and crippling exit fees. This comes on top of up to 17% increases faced by some O2 customers last year – few would have anticipated such steep price rises when they signed up.'
A Virgin Media O2 spokesperson defended the increases, stating: '2023 was a record year for traffic on our networks... the amount we receive from price increases is greatly outweighed by the £5m we invest every single day to upgrade our networks and services.'
Ofcom has announced plans to ban inflation-linked mid-contract price rises, requiring providers to state increases in pounds and pence upfront. The final decision is expected next spring, with rules taking effect four months later.
