Phone and wifi prices set to soar by £100

MOBILE phone and broadband customers face inflation-busting price increases likely to top £100 a year.

Suppliers such as BT, Vodafone, Three and EE tie annual rises to the December CPI inflation rate plus up to 3.9 per cent more. That would increase bills by 14 per cent or more from April.

BT has confirmed that its prices will rise by 14.4 per cent for most customers. Virgin Media and O usually link their April increase to January’s RPI rate, which is higher, plus the top-up, so their customers could pay 17 per cent more. Citizens Advice estimates that more than 13 million customers could see annual bills rise by £100-plus in April.

Uswitch telecoms expert Ernest Doku, said a £30-a-month broadband wifi deal with BT could cost £50 a year more while a £75-per-month EE mobile and handset deal would see a rise of about £130.

Telecoms giants argue that the extra cash is needed to fund their roll-out of high-speed broadband.

Citizens Advice chief executive, Dame Clare Moriarty, said: ‘Every day our advisers hear from people barely making ends meet as they try to cope with inflation and soaring household bills.

‘Mobile and broadband providers should be finding every way possible to help people. We want to see them cancel mid-contract price rises this year. Ofcom and the Government should then look to protect consumers from future ones.’