Millions of customers of Virgin Media and Virgin Mobile are facing price increases in spring, with TV and broadband subscribers having to pay £56.40 more a year for the services from 1 March.
A change in the terms and conditions for Virgin Mobile customers will introduce an annual price rise of 3.9% above January’s RPI inflation rate for their calls. Currently, prices increase each year in line with RPI.
The latest RPI figure, for November, was 7.1%, and if inflation remains at this level customers will face a double-digit price increase, coming into effect in April.
The increases come against a backdrop of rising prices, which has prompted economists to predict that 2022 will be the “year of the squeeze” for UK households.
Virgin Media said the price rises would allow it to keep up with demand from customers, who have increased their data use dramatically since 2019.
At the end of last year, customers were on average using 40% more data than in 2019, an increase driven by a switch to working from home and spending more leisure time in their living rooms.
However, customers with Virgin Media’s Oomph bundled deal, which includes the mobile service alongside broadband, will be excluded from the mobile price change.
So too will vulnerable customers, including those on the company’s Essential broadband package for people receiving universal credit, or its Talk Protected landline offer.
A Virgin Media spokesperson said: “While we recognise a price change is never welcome, with rising costs and our customers using their services more than ever, we are reviewing our pricing to fuel further investment in our network and services, both now and in the future.
“We’re committed to providing brilliant services and excellent overall value, and consistently give our customers more for their money than anyone else.”
Virgin Mobile customers have their payments split into two parts, one to cover the cost of their handset and one to cover airtime, and it is only the latter that will go up.
For a customer currently paying £35 a month for an iPhone 12 and watch with an airtime plan with 12Gb of data, £25 a month pays for the devices and will not be affected.
The other part of the deal will go up. If RPI remains at 7.1%, this will add £1.10 a month to their bill.
