Broadband and Mobile Price Rises: How Ofcom's Pounds and Pence Rule Changed What UK Homes Pay in 2026

Mobile bills are rising this year by £1.80 to £2.50 a month, with fixed broadband up by £2 to £4, according to figures published by the regulator Ofcom in February. Anyone whose provider failed to set that rise out clearly before signing is entitled to 30 days' warning and a penalty-free exit.

Those amounts are now written into contracts as cash sums. Since 17 January 2025, providers have been barred from linking mid-contract rises to inflation or to any percentage, and must state the figure in pounds and pence at the point of sale.

The numbers matter less than what they do to a small bill.

A flat sum lands hardest on the cheapest packages. Four pounds added to a £22 deal is a rise of about 18%. The same £4 on a £36 package is closer to 11%.

That arithmetic is the whole argument about whether the rule worked, and it is worth understanding before reading anyone's verdict on it.

What the Rule Actually Changed

Under the old system, bills rose each spring by an inflation measure plus a further amount, usually 3.9%. By April 2024, roughly 60% of broadband and mobile users were tied to such terms.

Ofcom banned it after finding that most people could not follow it.

Its research found that 55% of broadband customers and 58% of pay-monthly mobile customers did not know what the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) or the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure. The regulator concluded that households were carrying a risk they could neither predict nor understand.

Contracts signed before 17 January 2025 are a separate matter. Many still carry the old inflation-linked terms and will keep them until they end.

Whether Anyone Can Leave Early

The exit right turns on disclosure rather than on the size of the increase. A rise properly written into the contract and shown before signing is enforceable, and leaving early will cost a fee.

Where a provider did not make the increase clear at the outset, the rules entitle the customer to notice and a penalty-free departure. Providers must give at least 30 days' warning before any increase takes effect. Out-of-contract customers can switch at any time and pay nothing to go.

Why Some Argue It Backfired

Ofcom says its own assessment suggests the rules are giving people greater clarity at the point of sale. On the effect on bills, the regulator says the evidence is not yet strong enough for firm conclusions.

Others are less cautious. The comparison service Broadband Genie puts average increases at roughly 10% under the fixed-sum model against about 8% under the old inflation-linked one, and argues the change has hit cheaper tariffs hardest. Some mobile rises this year have run above 13%, against a Consumer Prices Index rate closer to 3%.

A Private Member's Bill to prohibit mid-contract rises outright was tabled this month. Until something changes, three checks remain worth making. The first is the pounds and pence figure, which appears before signing. The second is whether an existing contract predates January 2025 and still carries the old terms. The third is whether a household qualifies for a social tariff. Those start at about £12.50 a month, more than 30 are now available, and 532,000 households were using one last June. Roughly 70% of eligible households do not know they exist.