Price increase.

[#1]

Talking about contracted price increases, have Plusnet said how much their new customer contracts, (ie one started today, say), will be increasing by in March 2025?

EE say in their adverts that broadband will increase by £3/month then, are PN following suit?

Considering that today's announced inflation rate is 3.2%, +3.9 = 7.1%, which makes £3 seem excessive? (My PN is now £29.13/month, so 7.1% would only be £2.07).

My current PN contract ends on 1st April 2025, and I'm tempted to move to one of those companies that advertises "no in contract price increases", assuming they still offer that then! Interestingly, some are less than £3 more per month than PN at the moment!

[#2]

@Mr_Paul JOOI - what product are you on for that price?

[#3]

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@Mr_Paul wrote:

EE say in their adverts that broadband will increase by £3/month then, are PN following suit?

Considering that today's announced inflation rate is 3.2%, +3.9 = 7.1%, which makes £3 seem excessive? (My PN is now £29.13/month, so 7.1% would only be £2.07).

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Beware of cunning marketing!

Of recent times the lament from commentators has been the unpredictability of inflation+ increases.  Here we have EE offering predictable increases ... which next year (as inflation falls) might be more that inflation+ increases.  Buyer, be careful what you wish for.

[#4]

@jab1 

I'm currently on FTTC 80/20, whatever that is called. We are so close to the cabinet that it reliably syncs at those speeds, and they are generally enough for us.

However, CityFibre has been available here for about 4 years:

Vodaphone are currently offering 100Mbps for £29/month, 200Mbps for £30, 500Mbps for £33 and 910Mbps for £31. All packages include a digital phone line, but also with CPI +3.9% increases.

Zen are £28/month for 100Mbps, 300Mbps is £32, 500Mbps is £36 and 900Mbps is £40. All packages guarantee no in contract price increases, but no digital phone, (plus their router looks nice!). The digital phone would add a £1.44 per month with A&A.

As I said, we don't need the extra speed, but if any extra cost is negligible then I'm tempted. Plus, Openreach keep putting back when they are going to install FTTP here.

[#5]

If Vodafone and Zen are offering you FTTP where Openreach have not installed FTTP, then either there is a mistake in those offers or they are using ALTnets ... which I did not think they did.

Yes the Frit!Box supplied by Zen is amazing.  My recent migration of the Business FTTC+POTS to FTTP+VoIP with Zen went VERY smoothly ... all fully configured without me needing to lift a finger.

[#6]

Fair enough @Mr_Paul . I'm with Zen on the 100Mbps package, but I do have the phone, which I don't use for outgoing calls - at 20p/min that is silly, although I could add £6/mo on for 1000 minutes of 'free' calls, but as I get unlimited on my mobile for £5/mo, that would be silly.

[#7]

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@Townman wrote:

If Vodafone and Zen are offering you FTTP where Openreach have not installed FTTP, then either there is a mistake in those offers or they are using ALTnets ... which I did not think they did.

Yes the Frit!Box supplied by Zen is amazing.  My recent migration of the Business FTTC+POTS to FTTP+VoIP with Zen went VERY smoothly ... all fully configured with me needing to lift a finger.

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@Townman Zen use CityFibre where available.

[#8]

@Townman 

"Of recent times the lament from commentators has been the unpredictability of inflation+ increases.  Here we have EE offering predictable increases"

Yes, I get that, but what I, (like many others), really object to is any in contract price increase at all. The price you pay at the beginning should be what you pay for the duration. No other industry that I am aware of, apart from telecommunications, builds in increases - at least not for domestic customers?

For example, I took a punt in the summer of 2021 and fixed my energy price contract, albeit paying slightly more than the going rate at the time. That contract ended at the end of last month, yet despite the horrendous wholesale energy price increases of the past couple of years, British Gas honoured the same unit price and daily standing charges in the contract.

If other utilities can manage it, what makes telecoms unique?

[#9]

@Townman 

"If Vodafone and Zen are offering you FTTP where Openreach have not installed FTTP, then either there is a mistake in those offers or they are using ALTnets ... which I did not think they did."

Yes, as stated, this is via the CityFibre network.

[#10]

Zen use CityFibre where available.

As do Vodafone.

[#11]

@jab1 

"Fair enough @Mr_Paul . I'm with Zen on the 100Mbps package, but I do have the phone, which I don't use for outgoing calls - at 20p/min that is silly, although I could add £6/mo on for 1000 minutes of 'free' calls, but as I get unlimited on my mobile for £5/mo, that would be silly."

To clarify, are you saying that Zen include a digital phone line as part of their packages? I didn't notice that, but I'm not looking too deeply at the moment.

Is the phone line included in the price or an extra cost? Do you plug the phone in to the router or is it an external box?

I'm not bothered about the all charges, my family all have unlimited mobile call packages. The "landline" is only for the house alarm dialler.

[#12]

Didn't know that, @MisterW .

[#13]

@jab1 

"Didn't know that, @MisterW ."

I'm in Milton Keynes. According to CityFibre's website, (after putting in my postcode), via their network I can get service from the following:

Vodaphone, Zen, TalkTalk, Cuckoo, Brillband, Octaplus, No One, Yayzi, Gigabit Networks, Brawband, Idnet, Rocket Fibre, Fusion Fibre Group, A&A, Link and Fibrehop.

Most of those I have never heard of, but I will definitely be investigating each more closely in about 10-11 months from now when my PN contract is due to expire.

[#14]

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@Mr_Paul wrote:

@jab1 

To clarify, are you saying that Zen include a digital phone line as part of their packages? I didn't notice that, but I'm not looking too deeply at the moment.

Is the phone line included in the price or an extra cost? Do you plug the phone in to the router or is it an external box?

I'm not bothered about the all charges, my family all have unlimited mobile call packages. The "landline" is only for the house alarm dialler.

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I don't know how they would treat a 'new' customer, but I was moved by Zen from a FTTC+phone to SoGEA and was told 'just plug the phone into the rear FON socket via the adapter, and use it as normal'  I assume the 'phoneline' - which you don't have on FTTP is included in the monthly cost - I have no additional charges.

[#15]

@jab1 I think the only option for new customers is the £6/month Digital phone option including 1000 mins of calls. Certainly that's all it offers to me...

@Mr_Paul Might be worth asking directly if they'll offer a PAYG option (like John's) though