EE to move away from inflation based price rises later this year

Today, BT, who own EE, have announced that they will move away from inflation based price rises for new and re-contracting BT and EE customers.

The change will be introduced from summer 2024, but BT are being tight-lipped on an exact date for now.

The news follows Ofcom’s recent proposals to ban unpredictable mid-contract price rises altogether.

However, BT specifies that price rises will still occur for both BT and EE customers, but won't use unpredictable and confusing inflation models. Instead, price rises will be defined with exact figures in pounds and pence when signing a new contract, so you will know precisely how much you will spend for the total duration of your contract length.

Ofcom’s proposals allow this - they specify price rises can still go ahead, as long as customers know the exact amount of the increase at the point of signing up for a contract. It must specifically be defined in pounds and pence, to make it as clear as possible.

With the new model, BT expects airtime plans for EE to increase from £1.50, and for BT and EE broadband plans to increase from £3.

However, this year's inflation based price rise will still go ahead on 31st March.

BT and EE currently use the December CPI rate (Consumer Price Index) + 3.9% to determine the price rise. Published this morning by the Office of National Statistics, December's CPI rate was 4%, meaning the total increase this year will be 7.9%.

BT says they expect this year's increase to amount to no more than a “takeaway coffee each month” - rather condescending and out of touch if you ask me, particularly as many people continue to struggle during the cost of living crisis. This could range from £50 to £100 per year - not an amount that will go unnoticed for those who are financially struggling.

Ofcom’s say their proposal to ban inflation based price increases will be finalised sometime in the spring, and will be enforced in the second half of 2024.

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