Mid-contract broadband price rises explained

Before the ban, many providers wrote a yearly rise into their contracts that was tied to a future inflation figure plus an extra percentage, typically 3.9%, applied every March or April. Providers used official inflation measures such as the CPI (Consumer Price Index) or RPI (Retail Prices Index), which track how fast prices are rising: TalkTalk's older contracts used CPI plus 3.7%, and Onestream's older terms used RPI plus up to 3.9%. So nobody knew the size of the rise when they signed. Ofcom estimated that, as of April 2024, around six in ten broadband and mobile customers were on contracts with inflation-linked rises.

Ofcom's research found that 55% of broadband customers didn't know what inflation measures such as CPI and RPI actually measure. Among broadband customers whose provider used inflation-linked rises, only 16% were both aware of the rise and able to identify it as inflation plus an extra percentage. Ofcom said these terms left customers unfairly bearing the risk of inflation.

Ofcom says it does not set the prices customers pay, and that providers set their own prices. Its rules are about how a rise is presented: in pounds and pence, before you sign, with the date it applies.

Providers didn't have to wait. Ofcom said BT and Vodafone had already changed their pricing in response to its consultation. EE says its annual price changes have been in pounds and pence since April 2024, and BT says products bought on or after 10 April 2024 have a fixed pounds-and-pence rise each year.

The ban covers new and renewed contracts, so it didn't rewrite contracts that already existed. Ofcom says contracts signed before 17 January 2025 might still include inflation-linked terms, and that if you want to end one early you may have to pay the fee set out in it.

In October 2026 this affects fewer people than it did. Two dates explain why:

• The Telecoms Consumer Charter. This is a voluntary government charter published in February 2026, on top of Ofcom's rules. Its signatories are BT Group, VMO2, VodafoneThree, Sky, TalkTalk, KCOM, Community Fibre, WightFibre, Hyperoptic and Olilo. They committed that, for customers still on legacy inflation-linked terms, April 2026 would be the final core-subscription rise worked out that way, with those contracts then moving to pounds and pence.
• Contract length. Even a 24-month contract signed on 16 January 2025, the last day before the ban, ends in January 2027, before the usual March or April rise. (This is our arithmetic from the dates, not a rule.)

So an inflation-linked rise in April 2027 or later is mainly a risk with a provider that hasn't signed the Charter, either on a contract longer than 24 months or on older pricing terms that carry on after the minimum term. Two examples from providers' own documents:

• Onestream (not a Charter signatory): in the version of its terms we could check, archived in October 2025, clause 19.1.1 applies a 1 April rise of RPI plus up to 3.9% to services ordered, renewed or upgraded on or before 31 December 2024. As worded, the clause isn't limited to the minimum term. Broadband ordered, renewed or upgraded from 1 January 2025 gets a fixed pounds-and-pence rise instead. We couldn't open the live terms, so check the current version with Onestream. Our Onestream broadband page covers the provider in more detail.
• TalkTalk (a Charter signatory): its price change page, read in October 2026, still says customers who joined before 12 August 2024 and are still in contract are on yearly rises of CPI plus 3.7%, while later customers get a flat amount each April shown when they sign up or renew. The page doesn't mention the Charter, under which April 2026 was the last rise worked out that way for the core subscription. Read it as a record of how older TalkTalk contracts worked.

If you're on an older contract with any provider, ask how your next rise will be calculated and get the answer in writing.

Ofcom's rules apply to renewed contracts as well as new ones. If you re-contract with your current provider or upgrade to a different package, the new agreement must show any rise in pounds and pence. Onestream's terms, for example, treat a renewal or upgrade from 1 January 2025 the same as a new order. Renewing is therefore one way off an old inflation-linked clause, as long as the new deal is good value in its own right.

Small business customers must also be told the main monthly price in pounds and pence before they sign, but Ofcom's rules let them agree other kinds of price rise terms if they wish.

Ofcom's guidance is written about the main monthly price, and ISPreview's 2024 report of the decision said it covers the core subscription price, not add-ons or call charges. Some providers still use percentages for those extras. Vodafone says its out-of-bundle charges (things you pay for outside your plan, such as some calls) rise each April by the CPI rate published in January, plus 3.9%, and BT says some add-ons and out-of-bundle charges rise by 5%. If you pay for extras, check how each one can change, not just the broadband price.

Some deals start with free or discounted months and then move to the full monthly price. Citizens Advice says that if you were told at the start that the price would go up, for example after a discounted period, you can't cancel free of charge when it does. It also suggests checking how much the monthly fee will be once any offer ends. Treat the full price as the real price when you compare.

Ofcom's test is whether your contract specified how much the price could rise. Since 17 January 2025 that means a stated pounds-and-pence amount and a date. Where the rise was set out like that, it's part of what you agreed, so it doesn't give you a free exit. Virgin Media's help page, for example, says customers don't get a penalty-free right to cancel because of its standard annual increase, since it is set out in the contract.

Citizens Advice lists three cases where you can't cancel without a fee over a price rise:

• you were told at the start that the price would go up, for example after a discounted period,
• your terms say the price can go up each year, or
• you signed up before 23 January 2014.

Read the middle item alongside Ofcom's guidance. A term that sets out the yearly rise (how much it will be) is covered. A term that only says prices might go up, without saying by how much, is not enough: Ofcom says that where providers tell customers prices might rise but don't specify the rise in advance, customers can leave without a penalty if the price goes up.

Ofcom says that if your contract doesn't specify how much the price might rise and the provider raises it, or the provider raises it by more than the contract specifies, you are free to leave and switch without being penalised. The provider should tell you at least 30 days before a price rise beyond what you agreed, or any other change that isn't to your benefit. Citizens Advice also says that where your terms don't provide for the rise, you should get 30 days' notice and have a legal right to cancel without a fee within those 30 days.

The same principle covers other changes to your deal, which our guide on contract changes and your rights explains.

Some providers review prices with notice instead of fixing a yearly rise in advance, and pair that with a penalty-free exit:

• Gigaclear's February 2026 residential terms allow charges to be reviewed with at least one month's notice (clause 3.5), and let you end the contract within 30 days of being told about a change that isn't exclusively to your benefit, including a price change, without the early termination charge (clauses 10.2 and 10.3).
• 4th Utility's terms give at least one month's notice of price changes and 30 days to leave without early termination charges.
• ISPreview reported in February 2026 that Sky follows a variable pricing model, so broadband, talk and satellite TV customers in a minimum term can cancel without early termination charges after being notified of a price change (ISPreview's first report gave a 31-day window). See our Sky broadband deals page.

Check your own notice for any right to leave and its deadline.

1. Check your terms. If they don't say how much the price can rise, or the rise is bigger than they allow, you have grounds to leave free.
2. Note the dates. Write down when you received the notice and when the rise takes effect. Your window is the notice period, usually 30 days.
3. Compare before you go. Enter your postcode in the comparison on our broadband deals page to see what is available at your address, so you aren't left without a service.
4. Tell your provider in writing. Citizens Advice suggests saying clearly that you are cancelling within the 30 days' notice of a price increase. Keep a copy, or a webchat transcript.
5. Check your final bill for an early termination charge that shouldn't be there.

If you've only just signed up and spotted a rise you missed, you may still be within the 14-day cooling-off period, which applies if you signed up by phone or online. Our cooling-off period guide explains how it works.

Social tariffs are cheaper broadband packages for households on certain benefits. Ofcom says they don't have in-contract price rises or exit fees, and that eligible customers can switch to their provider's social tariff at any time, free of charge. Vodafone says it doesn't raise prices for social tariff customers or those registered as financially vulnerable; see our Vodafone broadband deals page. Our guide to broadband social tariffs explains who qualifies and how to apply.