Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at Uswitch.com, comments on the January CPI announcement - “Staying out of contract is more dangerous than ever”
“Today’s CPI announcement is another piece of the puzzle in April’s price hikes. For the estimated 8 million mobile and broadband customers still on older inflation-linked contracts, these increases will add an expected £17.4 million a month to household bills this spring.
“Following Ofcom’s rule changes, price rises are now split. While those who switched recently benefit from the transparency of fixed ‘pounds and pence’ rises, many of these newer hikes are actually proportionally higher than the current rate of inflation.
“Consumers must be proactive to ‘reset the clock’ by switching to a new deal, as staying out of contract is more dangerous than ever. Even with a £4 monthly rise, switching is almost always cheaper than staying on an expired plan, as compounding price increases can snowball year after year.
“If today’s announcement affects you, it’s more likely your contract is nearing its end date or has already expired. This means it’s likely you're free to switch and save. If you're still in-contract, set a reminder for your end date now so you can switch immediately and avoid paying costly out-of-contract rates.
“There are providers like VOXI, Lebara, and SMARTY for mobiles, or Trooli and YouFibre for broadband, who currently commit to no mid-contract price rises at all.
“It only takes a few minutes to run a comparison and find a better deal. If you’re out of contract, you could save an average of £203 a year by switching to a new broadband package, and as much as £321 by moving to a SIM-only deal, if your handset contract has expired.”
Table: How CPI price rises will affect consumers
| How much you pay now | Estimated monthly increase (CPI + 3.9%) | New monthly cost | New annual cost | Annual extra cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £20 | £1.46 | £21.46 | £257.52 | £17.52 |
| £25 | £1.83 | £26.83 | £321.90 | £21.90 |
| £35 | £2.56 | £37.56 | £450.66 | £30.66 |
| £50 | £3.65 | £53.65 | £643.80 | £43.80 |
| £75 | £5.48 | £80.48 | £965.70 | £65.70 |
Source: Uswitch.com
Table: Broadband providers that have CPI mid-contract increases
| Provider | How the annual rise is calculated | CPI rise date |
|---|---|---|
| BT | CPI + 3.9% | Contracts before 10.04.2024 (if in contract) |
| Community Fibre | CPI + up to a maximum of 2.9% | Contracts before 05.08.2024 |
| Plusnet | CPI + 3.9% | Contracts before 11.07.2024 |
| Talktalk | CPI + 3.7% | Contracts before 12.08.2024 |
| Vodafone | CPI + 3.9% | Contracts before 02.07.2024 |
| Three | The monthly cost will rise every April by inflation (CPI) plus 3.9% | Contracts before 01.09.2024 |
Source: Uswitch.com
Table: Mobile providers that have CPI mid-contract increases
| Provider | How the annual rise is calculated | CPI rise date |
|---|---|---|
| EE | CPI + 3.9% | Contracts before 10.04.2024 (if in contract) |
| Talkmobile | CPI + 3.9% | - |
| Tesco Mobile | CPI + 3.9% (if non-Clubcard Price deal) | Contracts before 17.12.2024 |
| Three | CPI + 3.9% | Contracts before 01.09.2024 |
| Vodafone | CPI + 3.9% | Contracts before 02.07.2024 |
Source: Uswitch.com
ENDS
Notes to editors
- Estimated number of CPI-linked contracts: 8,041,310 in total. Figures are based on a Uswitch survey of 27,188 UK consumers conducted by Opinium Research (Nov 28 – Dec 17, 2025).By analysing contract start dates and provider-specific pricing policies, Uswitch identified the proportion of customers still on legacy inflation-linked contracts. This excludes BT and EE customers currently out of contract who have moved to fixed "pounds and pence" increases. The findings were extrapolated to the UK adult population of those with a broadband contract that was taken out over 3 months ago or got a new mobile phone over three months ago (50.5 million) to estimate the total number of contracts facing CPI-linked increases in 2026.
- Estimated number of broadband customers on CPI-linked contracts: 4,728,870. Figures are based on a Uswitch survey of 27,188 UK consumers conducted by Opinium Research (Nov 28 – Dec 17, 2025). By analysing contract start dates and provider-specific pricing policies, Uswitch identified the proportion of customers still on legacy inflation-linked contracts. This excludes BT and EE customers currently out of contract who have moved to fixed "pounds and pence" increases. The findings were extrapolated to the UK adult population of those with a broadband contract that was taken out over 3 months ago to estimate the total number of broadband contracts facing CPI-linked increases in 2026.
- Estimated number of mobile customers on CPI-linked contracts: 3,953,737. Figures are based on a Uswitch survey of 27,188 UK consumers conducted by Opinium Research (Nov 28 – Dec 17, 2025). By analysing contract start dates and provider-specific pricing policies, Uswitch identified the proportion of customers still on legacy inflation-linked contracts. This excludes BT and EE customers currently out of contract who will move to fixed "pounds and pence" increases. The findings were extrapolated to the UK adult population of those who got a new mobile phone over three months ago to estimate the total number of mobile contracts facing CPI-linked increases in 2026.
- Total UK broadband and mobile bill increase per month = total broadband increase + total mobile increase = £17,404,824.20
- Average mobile individual increase: £1.36, Calculation = (average monthly bill from Uswitch data (£18.60) x (CPI figure + 3.9%)) x number of mobile customers on contracts with CPI-based price rise increase (3,953,737).
- Average broadband individual increase: £2.55, Calculation = (average monthly bill from Uswitch data (£35.90) x (CPI figure + 3.69%, which is the average of providers CPI increases)) x number of broadband customers on contracts with CPI-based price rise increase (4,728,870).
- Broadband savings figure of £203: Switching to a new broadband deal after your initial contract has ended could save you £203* (£203.17) a year. This calculation is based on the average 12-month out of contract cost calculated in July 2025 between the five most popular new deals on Uswitch: Vodafone Full Fibre 150, Virgin Media M125 Ultrafast Fibre broadband only, Sky Superfast Broadband, Sky Full Fibre 500 and Vodafone Fibre 2 (£524.40), compared to their average yearly in-contract cost for new customers (308.38), minus the average mid-contract price increase amount between each deal for 5 months post-price increase. Correct as of 30 July 2025. *This figure includes mid-contract price rises. This is calculated using the average current mid-contract price rise for the five most popular new deals (£2.57 per month) , multiplied by 5 (as of August, 7 months left till MCPRs come into effect, so the figure includes 5 months of increased prices, March to July).
- Handset to SIM only savings figure of £321: Switching from an ending 24-month handset contract to a SIM only contract (and keeping your existing handset) could save you £321 (£321.67) per year, or £26.81 per month. This calculation is based on the price of the top selling 24 month handset package in July 2023 (Apple iPhone 14 with 100GB data) against the cheapest equivalent SIM only deal on the Uswitch site as of July 2025 (iD Mobile 108GB data £9 per month on average ). Correct as of 30th July 2025.
For more information
Harriet Atkinson | Telecoms PR Manager
harriet.atkinson@rvu.co.uk
Twitter: @UswitchPR
