BT changes mobile and broadband price rise policy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67994514

"BT is abandoning mid-contract price rises linked to inflation after the
telecoms watchdog Ofcom threatened to ban the practice.

It has been one of several providers to tell customers the cost of their
mobile and broadband services would increase by inflation plus a fixed
percentage.

But the regulator said that was confusing and price rises should be
spelt out in "in pounds and pence."

BT has announced it will introduce that change from summer 2024.

According to a blog post from BT consumer chief Marc Allera, that means
mobile customers will see mid-contract price rises "from £1.50", while
broadband customers will face rises of £3."

--

Fake news kills!

I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website:
www.macfh.co.uk

Java Jive wrote:
> BT changes mobile and broadband price rise policy
> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67994514
>
> "BT is abandoning mid-contract price rises linked to inflation after the
> telecoms watchdog Ofcom threatened to ban the practice.
They may be expressed in £ and p, but will they be suspiciously close to
inflation + 3.9% ?

Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
> BT changes mobile and broadband price rise policy
> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67994514
>
> "BT is abandoning mid-contract price rises linked to inflation after the
> telecoms watchdog Ofcom threatened to ban the practice.
>
> It has been one of several providers to tell customers the cost of their
> mobile and broadband services would increase by inflation plus a fixed
> percentage.

Which contributes to INCREASING inflation. I never understood the point of
the fixed percentage above inflation. It's essentially allowing telcos an
automatic 3.9% minimum annual price rise. The total should be capped.

> But the regulator said that was confusing and price rises should be
> spelt out in "in pounds and pence."
>
> BT has announced it will introduce that change from summer 2024.

Conveniently after the current round of price rises of ~13%

On Fri 19/01/2024 12:20, Andy Burns wrote:
> Java Jive wrote:
>
>> BT changes mobile and broadband price rise policy
>> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67994514
>>
>> "BT is abandoning mid-contract price rises linked to inflation after
>> the telecoms watchdog Ofcom threatened to ban the practice.
>
> They may be expressed in £ and p, but will they be suspiciously close to
> inflation + 3.9% ?
>

Er, 3.9% plus CPI (or RPI if you use VM.))

On Fri 19/01/2024 13:04, Chris wrote:
> Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>> BT changes mobile and broadband price rise policy
>> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67994514
>>
>> "BT is abandoning mid-contract price rises linked to inflation after the
>> telecoms watchdog Ofcom threatened to ban the practice.
>>
>> It has been one of several providers to tell customers the cost of their
>> mobile and broadband services would increase by inflation plus a fixed
>> percentage.
>
> Which contributes to INCREASING inflation. I never understood the point of
> the fixed percentage above inflation. It's essentially allowing telcos an
> automatic 3.9% minimum annual price rise. The total should be capped.
>
>> But the regulator said that was confusing and price rises should be
>> spelt out in "in pounds and pence."
>>
>> BT has announced it will introduce that change from summer 2024.
>
> Conveniently after the current round of price rises of ~13%
>
>
>
Hmm, well, possibly not.

Most SPs are using the CPI in February so given it will probably be
around 4% we should expect about 8% (10% for VM) overall?

On Fri, 19 Jan 2024 13:04:23 -0000 (UTC), Chris
<ithinkiam@gmail.com> wrote:

>Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>> BT changes mobile and broadband price rise policy
>> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67994514
>>
>> "BT is abandoning mid-contract price rises linked to inflation after the
>> telecoms watchdog Ofcom threatened to ban the practice.
>>
>> It has been one of several providers to tell customers the cost of their
>> mobile and broadband services would increase by inflation plus a fixed
>> percentage.
>
>Which contributes to INCREASING inflation. I never understood the point of
>the fixed percentage above inflation. It's essentially allowing telcos an
>automatic 3.9% minimum annual price rise. The total should be capped.

The advertisements say CPI/RPI + 3.9%. In the unlikely event
that inflation was say -1% then -1 + 3.9 = 2.9%. Any company
which didn't do that would be guilty of false advertising.
--
Roger

Roger wrote:

> The advertisements say CPI/RPI + 3.9%. In the unlikely event
> that inflation was say -1% then -1 + 3.9 = 2.9%. Any company
> which didn't do that would be guilty of false advertising.

I believe they say if RPI/CPI goes negative, it will be treated as zero.

On Fri 19/01/2024 16:13, Andy Burns wrote:
> Roger wrote:
>
>> The advertisements say CPI/RPI + 3.9%. In the unlikely event
>> that inflation was say -1% then -1 + 3.9 = 2.9%. Any company
>> which didn't do that would be guilty of false advertising.
>
> I believe they say if RPI/CPI goes negative, it will be treated as zero.
>
>
Correct

>
> Which contributes to INCREASING inflation. I never understood the point of
> the fixed percentage above inflation. It's essentially allowing telcos an
> automatic 3.9% minimum annual price rise. The total should be capped.
>

Perhaps not in the long term though ... ?

********************************************************************

> On 28/06/2023 11:11, Java Jive wrote:
> Mobile and broadband firms accused of fuelling UK ‘greedflation’ with
major price hikes

>
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jun/27/mobile-and-broadband-firms-accused-of-fuelling-uk-greedflation-with-major-price-hikes
>
> "Analysis published by the Guardian today reveals that six companies
controlling most of the telecoms market all charged a 3.9 percentage
point supplement on top of their annual inflation-linked increases this
year."
>

I have just come to the end of a 2 year contract with TalkTalk and
signed up for another 2 years - and its now £2 a month cheaper than the
last renewal.

********************************************************************

This topic periodically comes up for discussion, but my general
impression is that the start prices of broadband contracts for new
customers are not shifting very much in the long term.

If OfCom wanted to do something useful for (broadband AND mobile)
customers they would prevent the direct debits automatically carrying on
at the end of the 2 year contracts.

Roger <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> On Fri, 19 Jan 2024 13:04:23 -0000 (UTC), Chris
> <ithinkiam@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>>> BT changes mobile and broadband price rise policy
>>> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67994514
>>>
>>> "BT is abandoning mid-contract price rises linked to inflation after the
>>> telecoms watchdog Ofcom threatened to ban the practice.
>>>
>>> It has been one of several providers to tell customers the cost of their
>>> mobile and broadband services would increase by inflation plus a fixed
>>> percentage.
>>
>> Which contributes to INCREASING inflation. I never understood the point of
>> the fixed percentage above inflation. It's essentially allowing telcos an
>> automatic 3.9% minimum annual price rise. The total should be capped.
>
> The advertisements say CPI/RPI + 3.9%. In the unlikely event
> that inflation was say -1% then -1 + 3.9 = 2.9%. Any company
> which didn't do that would be guilty of false advertising.

Not sure how that changes anything?

On 19/01/2024 13:04, Chris wrote:
> Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>> BT changes mobile and broadband price rise policy
>> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67994514
>>
>> "BT is abandoning mid-contract price rises linked to inflation after the
>> telecoms watchdog Ofcom threatened to ban the practice.
>>
>> It has been one of several providers to tell customers the cost of their
>> mobile and broadband services would increase by inflation plus a fixed
>> percentage.
>
> Which contributes to INCREASING inflation. I never understood the point of
> the fixed percentage above inflation. It's essentially allowing telcos an
> automatic 3.9% minimum annual price rise. The total should be capped.

But the Government have been doing very much the same with rail fares for many years, setting everyone a bad example.

--
Clive Page

>
> But the Government have been doing very much the same with rail fares
> for  many years, setting everyone a bad example.
>
>

Not really - because you don't sign a new rail fare contract at a
reduced price every 2 years.

So in fact, rail fares have a significantly higher rate of inflation,
along with MPs salaries.

Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> wrote:
> On 19/01/2024 13:04, Chris wrote:
>> Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>>> BT changes mobile and broadband price rise policy
>>> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67994514
>>>
>>> "BT is abandoning mid-contract price rises linked to inflation after the
>>> telecoms watchdog Ofcom threatened to ban the practice.
>>>
>>> It has been one of several providers to tell customers the cost of their
>>> mobile and broadband services would increase by inflation plus a fixed
>>> percentage.
>>
>> Which contributes to INCREASING inflation. I never understood the point of
>> the fixed percentage above inflation. It's essentially allowing telcos an
>> automatic 3.9% minimum annual price rise. The total should be capped.
>
> But the Government have been doing very much the same with rail fares for
> many years, setting everyone a bad example.

Not the last two years. Plus you have the choice of ticket and/or whether
to travel by train.

David Thorp <davidandsylviathorp@gmail.com> wrote:
> Why do big communications companies even need to rise prices
> 'in-contract', it used to be that you signed up knowing the monthly price
> was for the duration of you contract. Now it seems acceptable to rise
> prices mid contract (just because).

It's because they complained and OFCOM agreed.

iirc the issue was with 2 year contracts and how they'd be vulnerable to
large swings in inflation. It's daft as they didn't have to give 2-year
contracts, but enjoyed being able to lock customers in so priced then
keenly.

I feel this needs to be revisited.

> This is poor service and business practice, plus these massive companies
> are not helping with inflation, they're helping to keep it high!!!
> Surely they would be better to offer excellent prices & service to grow
> customers and therefore revenue? Or would that be too easy...
> If you want a great broadband deal, energy deal and cheaper mobile plans
> for the whole family consider UW (Utility Warehouse) you can bundle these
> services and save £'s plus UW don't have in-contract broadband price
> rises! More info about UW here >>>
> https://wowcompare.co/utilities/join-utility-warehouse-how-to-save-with-uw/
>

On 7 Feb 2024 02:16, David Thorp wrote:
> Why do big communications companies even need to rise prices 'in-contract', it used to be that you signed up knowing the monthly price was for the duration of you contract. Now it seems acceptable to rise prices mid contract (just because).

Two words: Liz Truss
Well, actually, the government in general.
Oh, and Ukraine etc

When services are limited margins but rely on volume to make profit and
repair and replace funds, jumps in inflation, borrowing and running
costs have to be covered somehow.