Households to be hit with price hikes for broadband and phones from Monday

Hundreds of thousands of households will have to pay more for their broadband, TV and mobile services from next week when a number of providers increase their monthly prices.

The bills for some people who are on bundled plans will increase by close to €100 a year.

Eir and Vodafone will implement inflation-busting price hikes from Monday, with Sky, Three Mobile and Virgin Media also upping their prices in the coming weeks.

Most customers of Eir and Vodafone will see their bills go up by 7.6pc as the providers impose “annual price adjustments”.

Under this policy, bills go up each April by the annual rate of inflation as of January, plus an additional 3pc.

Customers of Three Mobile see their prices go up by a flat 4.5pc each April, regardless of the rate of inflation.

The monthly costs for customers who joined Eir or re-contracted their Eir services before March 1 will rise by 7.6pc from Monday. It will mean some plans going up by €8 a month, or €96 a year.

If a customer has a broadband and phone with a standard monthly price of €66, from next week the monthly price will rise by €5 a month, or €60 a year.

For Vodafone customers, this year’s price adjustment will be 7.6pc. It applies to all mobile and fixed plans that have a six-, 12-, 18- or 24-month minimum contract term.

Three Ireland said the cost of its plans would rise by 7.6pc, comprising a 3pc annual rise, plus the rate of inflation in January.

A €60 Three Bill Pay Unlimited 5G contract will rise by €4.56 a month, or €54 a year.

A number of Sky Ireland’s 600,000 customers will be hit with price rises after it said it was increasing its broadband and TV subscription service fees.

It will mean an average rise of around €52 a year for households.

Virgin Media is hiking its prices from May11. Broadband provided bythe companywill cost €4 a month more for some customers, with a similar rise in TV services costs for a number of customers.

This works out at a rise of €48 a year for a broadband-only customer.

Virgin Media said affected customers would face a 4.6pc price rise.

A small number of its customers are being hit with an increase of €8 a month as they get both broadband and TV services, a rise from €95 to €103. This is an 8.4pc increase, or €96 a year.

Daragh Cassidy, of price comparison site Bonkers.ie, hit out at Eir, Vodafone and Three Mobile for using a pricing model where they impose annual price rises linked to the rate of inflation.

They have changed to a system of increasing costs at the same time every year by the rate of inflation, plus a set percentage.

The Government is considering banning this pricing model.

Mr Cassidy claimed it was contrary to competition law, a charge rejected by the providers.

He said: “Bonkers.ie is also calling on the CCPC [Competition and Consumer Protection Commission] and Com-Reg to clarify their positions regarding the use of automatic price adjustments in the Irish market.”

‘The bills for some people who are on bundled plans will increase by close to €100 a year’