Plusnet moves to pounds and pence price rises

New broadband contracts and existing customer re-contracts with Plusnet will be subject to a new pounds and pence based price rise from 9th July.

Instead of the current inflation-linked price rise of Consumer Price Index (CPI) + 3.9%, Plusnet broadband will be increasing by £3 per month effective each March from 2025.

The move brings Plusnet in line with parent company BT, who moved to the same method in April 2024.

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Plusnet annual price rises

From 9th July 2024, any new broadband contracts taken out with Plusnet, or where existing customers re-contract with the provider, will now be subject to a £3 per month annual price rise effective each March.

While the industry is still awaiting a final statement from Ofcom on their consultation to ban inflation-linked mid-contract price rises, Plusnet joins BT, EE and Vodafone in their move to pre-empt the regulator's decision.

Plusnet no longer offer a mobile service, having finally shut the service down in June 2024, yet for BT or EE mobile customers, they can also expect prices to go up by £1.50 per month, while BT and EE broadband will also rise by £3 per month.

Vodafone has also chosen £3 as their annual price rise amount for home broadband, while Vodafone mobile contracts will be increasing by just £1.

An extra complication?

Increasing broadband and mobile prices on an annual basis by a specified pounds and pence amount was the main solution put forward by Ofcom in their consultation.

Moving away from inflation-linked price rises aims to improve transparency around mid-contract price hikes, and make them easier for consumers to understand how much their bill will go up by.

However, while it can be seen as a step in the right direction, it doesn't resolve all the issues with mid-contract price hikes and raises some questions of its own.

For example, customers still have to calculate how many months will be charged at different rates before and after each annual price rise to find the total cost of the contract, with time of year changing how much a customer will end up paying for the same service.

It also brings into question the necessity for annual price rises in the first place. If providers know how much these increases will need to be in pounds and pence at the start of the contract, then they could simply charge a fixed price each month, as some already do, which could be the most consumer-friendly thing to do.

However, it's looking increasingly likely Ofcom's upcoming statement will side with providers, especially with BT, EE, Vodafone and Plusnet all pre-empting that decision.