Millions of phone, TV and broadband customers are facing £42 a year hikes on their bills under a series of price rises confirmed today.
The BT Group, which also owns EE and Plusnet, said the average customer will see their bills rise by £3.50 a month or £42 a year.
The 9.3% rise reflects December's inflation figures and applies to anyone who signed a BT or EE deal on or after 1 September 2020 or before 11 January 2019.
Inflation, which measures the rising cost of consumer goods, has jumped to the highest level in 30 years, with the Bank of England warning it could soar further by spring.
The rises will come as series of increases kick in across the board – including higher National Insurance tax from April.
EE mobile customers who signed up before 1 September 2020 will see their bills rise by 7.5% on 31 March in line with the retail prices index (RPI) measure of inflation for December 2021.
BT said customers on its packages for vulnerable customers, ie Home Essentials, BT Basic or Home Phone Saver, won’t be affected.
Plusnet customers who signed up after 30 June 2021 will face a hike of 9.3% from 31 March 2022.
Vodafone customers will also see price hikes of up to 9.3% from 1 April 2022.
Meanwhile, TalkTalk will push its prices up by 9.1% in April. The rise amounts to around £2 extra each month.
TalkTalk sets its prices on the January rate, which was 5.4%. It then adds on an additional 3.7%.
To give an example, TalkTalk’s Fibre 64 package is £24 but will cost an extra £2.20 a month from April, amounting to a £26.40 yearly increase.
A BT Group statement said: "In line with our terms, our prices for existing customers will be increasing from 31 March, with a similar rise also being introduced for new customers."
A Vodafone spokesperson said: "These annual price increases are essential for us to maintain investment in our network and services while the costs that we face continue to rise."
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TalkTalk has been approached fro a comment.
Virgin Media last week became the first provider to announce a price rise, with an above-inflation increase to take effect from March.
All phone, TV and broadband customers will be affected, unless the household falls under the 'vulnerable' bracket.
The average household will see their plan rise by £4.70 a month or £56.40 a year, the company said. Out of bundle call costs are not changing.
Customers on a fixed-price promotion, ie those who are still within the minimum term of their contract, will see their prices rise after their contract ends.
Those who are not within their minimum term - most likely because their contract has ended - will see their price change from March 1, 2022.
Virgin Media told the Mirror it's currently writing to UK customers to inform them of the price rises.
However, it said that if you are affected by the increase, you can leave your contract without paying any early termination charge.
Families on benefits such as Universal Credit are often able to get cheaper broadband packages.
Several companies provide special discounted rates for customers who are on Universal Credit or other benefits.
TalkTalk offers six months worth of free broadband to jobseekers, BT offers a basic £15 a month phone and broadband package for households that claim certain benefits and Virgin Media has an Essentials plan for the same price.
Many of these tariffs are also exempt from price rises.
