The new price increase will come into effect from next April, for customers who signed up to a new deal from October 23
O2 customers will be hit with bigger mid-contract price rises after the mobile network announced a new increase.
Anyone taking out a new contract or renewing their existing deal will see their monthly mobile bill rise by £2.50 a month mid-way through their contract – up from the current rate of £1.80 a month.
The new price increase will come into effect from next April, for customers who signed up to a new deal from October 23. Data only and smartwatch customers will continue to see their bill rise by 75p.
Out of bundle charges will also continue to increase by 5% every April. O2 is writing directly to existing customers who are affected by the change.
We’ve asked the mobile provider what this means for existing customers whose contracts are not yet up for renewal and we’ll update this article when we know more.
An O2 spokesperson said: “With demand for mobile data at an all-time high, we’re introducing a 70p per month increase to annual price rises for O2 customers, effective each April.
“An annual rise of £2.50 a month – around 8p a day – continues to represent excellent value for services that customers are using more than ever before.
“We’ve again frozen prices on handset repayment plans and are investing £700m into our mobile network this year to ensure we meet growing demand and give our customers the fast and reliable connectivity they rely on.
“Customers on our social tariffs continue to be exempt from any price changes as part of our efforts to provide support to those who need it most.”
It comes after sister company Virgin Media increased its mid-contact price rise for new and re-contracting customers from £3.50 a month to £4.
Existing customers will not be affected by the higher price rise while they are still in their existing deal.
BT and EE have increased their mid-contract price rise from £3 a month to £4 a month for new customers. Plusnet also hiked its mid-contract price rise to £4 from August.
Save money on your broadband bill
If you’re out of contract, compare prices online to see if you can get a better deal elsewhere. Check your current broadband speed, and ask yourself if you need this fast of a speed, or if you can save money by downgrading.
If you don’t want to leave your current provider, you can try haggling down your existing bill. When haggling, explain the better deals you’ve seen elsewhere then ask if the company can match or beat that price.
The best time to try and negotiate a better deal is near the end of your contract or, sometimes when a price rise has been announced.
You may be able to leave penalty-free when a mid-contract price rise is announced, although not if the price rise was already written into your contract. If you claim benefits, check if you can save money by signing up for a cheaper social tariff.
