Original article ISPreview UK:Read More
Broadband ISP EE (BT) has this morning caused a degree of surprise by appearing to reverse last week’s denial (here) and announcing a price increase of £1 per month across their low-cost home broadband social tariffs for those on state benefits (Home Essentials). The provider had previously indicated to ISPreview that no such price increases would be introduced in 2025.
The Home Essentials plans reflect a mix of “fibre” (FTTC/P) and call bundles that are usually only available to those receiving Universal Credit (and certain legacy benefits). The plans included unlimited data, the ability to cancel anytime without penalty and speeds of 36Mbps (dropping back to 16Mbps in ADSL-only areas) or 67Mbps for just £15-£20 or £23 per month respectively. A Call Only (no broadband) plan also exists for £10 per month, while those on “zero income” (no income) only pay £15 for the 36Mbps option.
Last week we reported on how BT had updated the T&Cs on their website to announce a series of changes to their social tariffs, which among other things included a £1 per month price increase on two of their plans (36Mbps and 67Mbps) and the removal of their “zero income” option. The changes were all due to be introduced from 2nd May 2025.
The above came as a surprise, not least because BT had previously made a bit of a song and dance about how their social tariffs would NOT be increasing in price when they confirmed their latest round of annual price hikes in January 2025 (here). BT then responded to the news reports by informing ISPreview that their website was “not correct and [had] been updated in error”.
ISPreview later asked EE / BT to confirm whether it was indeed the case that “none of the changes” previously showing on their T&C pages would be introduced this year. In response, a spokesperson for the operator told us “that is correct” and we then updated our article accordingly.
So, you can imagine our surprise at receiving the following message from EE / BT this week, which confirmed that their broadband social tariff, Home Essentials, would indeed be increasing in price by £1 per month for new eligible customers from 2nd May 2025. In other words, their zero income plan becomes £16, while the Fibre Essentials plan (36Mbps) will now be £21, and you’ll pay £24 for 67Mbps on the Fibre 2 Plan.
A BT / EE spokesperson told ISPreview:
“We’re committed to providing support to our customers when they need it most – so we’re continuing to offer low-income customers a range of connectivity options. From 2nd May 2025, new customers can now join our broadband social tariff Home Essentials, which offers the cheapest quality connectivity for zero income customers from £16 a month. Our yearly eligibility checks ensure we’re offering customers the right tariffs at the right time.”
The provider said they were making the changes to help support their continuing investment in the business and to “bring customers a better, more reliable experience and the best value for money“. The provider added that they’d “kept the price for our social tariffs flat for a number of years, but our own costs continue to increase, so adjusting what we offer and how much for allows us to continue supporting customers“.
On the plus side, there’s no change to remove the “zero income” (no income) tariff this time, which is a good thing. But given the above U-turn, we now can’t help but wonder whether the writing may be on the wall for that plan too. The price increase itself is fairly small and is perfectly understandable given recent cost increases (inflation etc.), but clearly BT / EE could have done a better job on the communication side of things (both internally and externally).
Finally, a quick reminder. We know social tariffs can be a divisive topic for some, but that is not an excuse to abuse the comment system in order to post offensive remarks toward those who take state benefits. Such posts are against our rules and will be removed.