TalkTalk is putting up prices for home phone, broadband and TV customers, just seven months after it last raised its landline and call charges.
The telecoms firm, which has built a customer base of 4m homes by undercutting the likes of BT and Sky, spent the bank holiday weekend sending out emails informing customers their bills would be rising again.
From 1 June TalkTalk is increasing the cost of all its monthly broadband/TV packages by £1.50 a month or £18 a year. Those on its basic Simply Broadband deal are hit hardest – their monthly charge will rise from £3.50 to £5 a month, a 43% increase. Customers on its popular TV Essentials deal will have their monthly bill increased to £10 a month.
Perhaps the biggest change – despite it not featuring prominently in the emails to customers – is that from 1 July calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers (those used by the banks and utility firms) will no longer be included in the calling packages that many customers have signed up to. Calls to 0845 numbers can often last a long time as customers are kept on hold and the change is likely to add significantly to bills.
The company is also scrapping free local calls for the small number of customers who are not on one of its evening and weekend and/or anytime call plans.
TalkTalk said customers can continue to receive a 19% discounted call rate on a single 0845 number of their choice, although many customers who rely on the phone package are unlikely to be placated since the change follows the company’s move in December to raise its line rental from £15.95 a month to £16.70 a month, and increase call charges. The popular Anytime UK Calls boost – which included all calls to other landlines – went up from £5 a month to £7.50 a month, although calls to mobiles were added for the first time.
The move will leave some customers wondering whether two bill increases a year represent the future from what used to be Britain’s best-value broadband provider. It also comes a few months after the company was at the centre of a data breach that let fraudsters target customers – and in some cases led to the loss of thousands of pounds.
The increases are also further evidence that telecoms firms have felt able to raise prices irrespective of the mood in the wider economy. BT, Sky and now TalkTalk have all raised prices significantly faster than inflation in recent years – in part to pay for the hugely expensive battles over sports TV rights. Supermarket price wars and low oil prices have kept annual inflation at zero for the past two months.
TalkTalk said: “We’re committed to providing Britain’s best-value TV, broadband, calls and mobile as well as the best service possible … Over the past year we’ve made our broadband smarter, faster and more reliable, while also adding more great entertainment to TalkTalk TV. In making these improvements, some prices will increase.”
She said customers on existing discounts will see those deals honoured, albeit at the new level. Customers can leave their contract without penalty if they inform TalkTalk within 30 days.
TalkTalk customers who were not informed of last December’s price increases will be getting a credit to their account, the company said in emails sent out over the weekend.
• This article was amended on 5 May 2015. An earlier version said TalkTalk was increasing the cost of its monthly broadband/TV packages from 1 July. That date has been corrected to 1 June.
