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>>>THEFACTS
Getreadyforthebiggestincreasessinceyoufirstusedtheinternet
By howmuchwilly our
broadban dbills rise in 2022?
I
nflationis back–in abig
way.Ift he currenttrend
continues, 2022 will have
thehighest pricerises for
years.We’ll seethe effectnot
just whileshopping,but also
in ourbills.Theimpactwill be
particularly severe in
broadbandbecauseseveral
providers incr ease theirbills
by therateofi nflationplusa
setamount. It means 2022
will seethe biggestrisein
broadbandbillssince anyof
us startedusing theinternet.
Let’sget thebad ne ws out of
theway (there is asliverof
good news,but we’llleave that
forlater). BT,alongwithits
subsidiaries EE andPlusnet,
nowincreases bills by therate
of CPI(Consumer Price Inde x)
inflationplus3.9 percent.
LastApril, that equation ledto
incr eases of4.5per cent,
basedonthe CPIof0.6 per
cent announcedinJ anuary
2021 (asBTexplainedatwww.
snipca.com/40586).
Thatrisefitted into the
historical averagerange of
incr eases –about four to six
percent. Butitdid so only
because inflat ionwas so low.
By tackingincreasesto
inflation,providershave
pavedthe way forrises that
somecustomers wi ll struggle
to affor d.
We’rewriti ng this just afew
days before thefirstCPI
announcement of theyear,
but it ’s unlikelytobelower
than thelatest rate (for
November 2021)of5.1 per
cent.ACPI aroundthat figure
will mean BT’s monthlybills
rising in Aprilbyatl east nine
percent.
Otherproviders ar eaddingasmaller amount on to the
CPIrise. TalkTalk forexample
is increasing bills by CPIplus
3.7 percent, whileShell
Energy is raisingprices by ‘up
to threeper cent’. Tha t’snot
thegood news though ,just
marginally lessbad.
Eventhe co mpanies that
haven’thitched thei rbills to
inflation areincreasing prices
by more than before.Virgin
MediaO2, forexample,
recently announcedprice
incr easesthatsee its average
annual bill rise by £56.40.
Lastyearthe averagerisewas
£54.
Skycustomers have ye ttolearnhowmuchextra they’ll
paythisyear, butthey’ll almost
certainl yfeelthe pinchtoo.
Will Ofcomhelpcustomers?
Probably not.Ith as persuaded
most majorprovidersto sign
up to Fairness Commitme nts,
butthese merely require
companie stoo fferdeals “that
have afairapproachto
pricing” that’s easy to
unders tand. It does nothingto
tacklerisin gprices.
Andso, on to thegood news
–thoughdon’t gettoo excited.
Severalpolls have shownthat
customers want aspecific
formula–such as inflation
plusasetamount –forworkingout priceincreases,
so they can preparefor them.
Theyprefe rsuchpriceclarity
to ‘surprise ’amountsthatare
hard to predict.Ifa ll providers
areincreasingprices by
roughly thesameamount, it’s
better to know some months
aheadwhatthe increase is
likelytobe
Buteventhissilverlining
hasacloud.Beca usethe
inflatio n-ba sedincreaseis
explainedint he contract
when yousignup, it doesn’t
count as amid-contractrise
andthereforeyoucan’t cancel
without paying an early-
terminationfee.
If switch ingisn’t an option,
that just leaves agood
old-f ashioned haggle.April’s
rises will causesuchshock
that we expectrecordnumbers
of cu stomers to phonetheir
providerlooking forabetter
deal.Don’t wait untilthen
though. Gi ve themaring
today, explainthatyou’re
worriedabout inflation,and
tell us what they offer you.
We’llmention your success
stories in forthcoming issues.19 Januar y–1February 2022 •Issue- Somebroadbandproviders
areincreasingbillsbythe
rateofinflationplusaset
amount - Withinflationsoaring,this
couldmeanrisesofaround
eighttoninepercent - Customerscan’t cancel
withoutpayingafee
becausetheyweretold
abouttheincreasewhen
theysignedup
Currentinflationwould
meanBT’s billsgoingupbyat
leastninepercent