MILLIONS of Three Mobile and Vodafone customers will see their monthly bills jump by up to 4.5% from April.
Mobile firms usually increase bills for customers based on inflation, and both Three and Vodafone have confirmed they are raising prices as a result.
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Vodafone will hike prices up from April, and has used the Consumer Price Index rate to calculate the jump.
Customers who signed up or renewed their mobile contract from December 9 2020 will see their bill jump by 4.5% from April.
This means if you were on a £83 monthly contract for your phone – such as for this Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max – you would be forking out £3.74 a month, or £44.88 more a year.
It is yet to be seen how much extra customers who joined or renewed their contract before December 9 2020 will be paying, as the RPI rate of inflation for February has not been published yet.
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But looking at last year, Vodafone hiked bills up by 2.5% in line with the RPI rate of inflation for February 2020.
A Vodafone spokesperson said: “We recognise no one wants to see price rises, but these are necessary for us to continue investing in our networks, products and services.”
Three Mobile is also planning to roll out price hikes from April this year based on the January RPI rate of inflation published by the ONS.
How much extra you’ll be paying depends on when you joined or renewed your contract.
How to save on your mobile phone bill
NOT happy with your current mobile phone deal?
If you’re outside the minimum term of your contract then you won’t need to pay a cancellation fee – and you might be able to find a cheaper deal elsewhere.
But don’t just switch contracts because the price is cheaper than what you’re currently paying.
Take a look at how many minutes and texts, as well as how much data you’re using, to find out which deal is best for you.
For example, if you’re a heavy internet user it’s worth finding a deal that accomodates this so you don’t end up spending extra on bundles or add-ons each month.
Also note that if you’re still in your contract period, you might be charged an exit fee.
Ready to look elsewhere? Pay-as-you-go deals are better for people who don’t regularly use their phone, while monthly contracts usually work out cheaper for those who do.
It’s worth using comparison websites, such as MoneySupermarket and uSwitch.com, to compare tarrifs and phone prices.
Billmonitor also matches buyers to the best pay-monthly deal based on their previous three months of bills.
It only works if you’re a customer of EE, O2, Three, Vodafone or Tesco Mobile and you’ll need to log in with your online account details.
There’s also MobilePhoneChecker,which has a bill monitoring feature that recommends a tariff based on your monthly usage.
If you’re happy with your provider then it might be worth using your research to haggle a better deal.
The price hike affects customers on pay-monthly contracts.
Customers who took out a new deal or renewed their contract after October 29 2020 will be hit with a 4.5% price hike in April.
So if you took out a contract for the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max for £76 (although the first six months are half price), you’ll be paying £3.42 a month extra, which is £41.04 a year more.
Customers who joined Three or renewed their contract between 29 May 2015 and 28 October 2020 will be hit with a 1.4% jump to their monthly bill from May.
The Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max hadn’t launched then, but if you had taken out an Apple iPhone 12 contract for £60 a month (although the first six months are half price), you’ll be paying 84p more a month, which is £10.08 a year.
A Three spokesperson said: “Like other mobile network providers, our pay monthly plans are subject to an annual price increase.
“This year, some customers will see their monthly charge increase by 1.4% in line with the January RPI rate of inflation published by the ONS.
“We are investing +£2 billion in the UK’s fastest 5G network to ensure we have a strong network, capable of delivering better connectivity, every day, for every customer.”
Three said it would contact affected customers from March 2021 onwards.
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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
