Big Bucks, Small Fiddles: Why You’re Paying More After Your Broadband Contract Ends
It’s not just the speed and price that matter
Choosing a broadband plan feels like navigating a maze of clicks and pop‑ups. Speed, customer support, and the headline price are the obvious checks. But there’s another master‑chef ingredient that often goes unnoticed – the post‑contract price.
What happens when the deal expires?
Your contract and your monthly bill often double up. Take Virgin Media’s famous M100 bundle: £34 a month for 18 months. Then, in month 19, the price shoots up to £51 a month. That’s an extra £17 per month per customer!
Think about the numbers on a national scale:
- Virgin Media serves 5.42 million customers in the UK.
- That sudden bump equates to an extra £92.1 million per month in revenue for the company.
- Extrapolated, you might be looking at an extra £220 million in gross income from just this one provider.
Why most people stay put after the jump
A recent Compare Fibre survey revealed that 21% of respondents either “wouldn’t care about the hassle of switching” or “were worried about losing internet connectivity when changing providers.”
Voices from the Wire
Nathan Hill‑Haimes, co‑founder of Compare Fibre (www.comparefibre.co.uk), says:
“Big providers use this easy trick to squeeze more money from the less‑active customers. It’s a money‑made‑with‑no-work scenario, and it raises ethical eyebrows.” – Nathan Hill‑Haimes
The wider picture
Big players are eating up at least £1 Bn from post‑contract hikes each month. If OFCOM stays hands‑off, will the market itself fix this loophole, or will customers keep losing out forever?
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