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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
Ruby Flanagan

Virgin Media to hike broadband and TV prices by 13.8% - adding £80 a year to bills

Virgin Media is hiking the price of its for broadband, TV and fixed-line phone services by an average of 13.8%.

The price changes will vary according to the package and the increase will come into effect on either April 1 or May 1, again depending on your current deal.

In the latest Virgin Media financial results, the average customer spent £48.19 a month - so with an increase of 13.8%, that would be an increase of £6.65 a month, or £79.90 a year.

The firm says it will start telling customers how much extra they will pay and when to expect their bills to rise in the coming weeks.

Virgin said that customers impacted by the changes will have 30 days from receipt of their communication to cancel their contract if they wish to.

Virgin said the price changes will vary according to your package (Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

There are some users who won't be affected by the hike, with Virgin confirming that the most vulnerable users will not see their prices change in 2023.

This includes those on our Essential Broadband packages, for people receiving Universal Credit, as well as Talk Protected landline customers.

Virgin Mobile customers can expect price rises as well, although how much bills will rise by won't be revealed until next month.

The price rise for mobile customers will be based on the January Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation figure, published in February, plus an additional 3.9% on top.

RPI currently stands at 13.4%, compared to 10.5% for Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation.

A Virgin Media spokesperson said: “We know that price rises are never welcome, particularly right now, but like many other businesses we are experiencing significantly increased costs while investing to keep pace with growing demand, as broadband usage rose more than 10% last year and speeds increased by 40%.

“The introduction of inflation-linked price changes, which comes into effect in 2024 when RPI is projected to be at around 1.5%, will give customers clarity and certainty about what to expect from their bills while fuelling the investment required both now and in future."

Virgin are not the only firm to announce price rises.

BT, EE, Plusnet, Shell, TalkTalk and Vodafone are all on track to increase home internet bills by inflation-busting figures.

These rises come even after the regulator Ofcom warned UK telecoms providers to "consider whether large price rises can be justified at a time of exceptional financial hardship".

The regulator is, however, currently taking a look at this area and at the same time, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) is considering new guidance that could require information about mid-contract prices hikes to be made much clearer.

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