Broadband users could be paying twice the price for half the speed

MILLIONS of loyal broadband customers are being charged extra for a slower internet, regulators revealed yesterday.

Ofcom says major providers are ripping off four million households by charging for standard tariffs double what they demand for “superfast” deals.

For example, the non-discounted price for BT’S standard broadband service is £42.99, nearly twice the price of its superfast services, which start at £24.99 on an 18-month contract, or £35.99 for an unlimited service.

Virtually all new contracts for bundles that include a fixed broadband service feature a promotional discount of 20 per cent on average, Ofcom says.

Figures for July to September 2017 show that around four in 10 subscribers are outside their minimum contracted period with their existing provider.

These consumers are likely to be paying more than they would if they shop around for new deals with a fresh contract and different provider, or even if they renegotiate with their current provider.

Under plans to crack down on ripoff practices, phone and broadband customers will soon receive alerts telling them when they have reached the end of their contract, says Ofcom.

It is currently consulting with providers to introduce so-called “end of contract notifications” to tell customers when their contracts are coming to an end. At present, most providers do not tell customers when their terms are up and that they could switch to a cheaper deal.

An Ofcom spokesman says: “You don’t always need to pay more to get faster speeds – many people who are out of contract could upgrade their broadband package, often at no greater cost. So we’re working to help broadband users take advantage of the wide range of deals on offer. People have also told us they would find it useful to be told when their contract is up, and we’ll be setting out proposals on this shortly.”

It comes as a study by Which?, the consumer association, found British households are paying for broadband speeds that are on average 51 per cent slower than advertised.

Customers paying for speeds of up to 38 megabits per second only receive on average half that, at 19 Mbps, results from 235,000 uses of the Which? broadband speed checker tool found.

From next Wednesday, home broadband providers will have to ensure that at least 50 per cent of their customers can achieve the advertised speeds at peak time, under a scheme to prevent misleading claims.