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UK ISP BT (inc. Plusnet and EE) is due to reveal a change to their existing mid-contract pricing policy, which means that new customers who sign-up for a broadband package on or after 31st July 2025 (5th August with Plusnet) will be subject to a +£4 price rise on 31st March 2026 and then +£4 again on 31st March 2027 (up from the previous £3 increase).
Just to recap. At the start of 2025 Ofcom began requiring telecoms providers to adopt a new approach to mid-contract price hikes, which did away with the old percentage and inflation-based model – replacing it with one that must now set out such price rises “clearly and up-front, in pounds and pence, when a customer signs up” (here). This made annual price hikes clearer and more transparent, but not necessarily cheaper.
In response, many providers did as BT has since done by setting out a new pricing policy that would increase the price that customers pay by £3 extra per month from March or April each year (this will vary a bit for other providers). The first one hit this year and BT (including Plusnet and EE) had been on course to apply the same level again from 31st March 2026 and onwards.
However, ISPreview understands that BT and its associated ISPs are due to replace the +£3 policy with a larger rise of +£4, although this will only apply to new customers who sign-up on or after 31st July 2025 (we assume this will also include re-contracting customers after this date too). We’re currently attempting to get a comment from the operator, although the change is likely occurring to help balance the provider’s risk now that inflation has remained higher for longer than expected.
The above comment reflects the fact that Ofcom’s new approach naturally increases the risk for providers that previously adopted the CPI/RPI + 3-4% model for annual hikes, especially those that offer longer contract terms. The provider now has to balance that greater risk through their pricing (i.e. static pricing is harder to set over a longer period of time than one set against a dynamic level of inflation, which may go up or down).
Historically, when BT leads on pricing policy changes, others tend to follow. Put another way, BT’s decision to tweak their mid-contract rises upwards by an extra £1 per year is likely to be followed by other providers over the next few months.