Uswitch responds to Three's change to a 'pounds and pence' model for future mid-contract price rises
Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at Uswitch.com comments on Three’s change that from September 2024 all new contracts will include details of “pounds and pence” cost increases:
“Three has announced a new tiered approach to annual price rises for mobile customers following Ofcom’s July announcement that from January 2025 all mid-contract price rises must be outlined in pounds and pence.
“Three’s new approach will see its price increases for mobile customers determined based on their data allowance. Customers on a data allowance of 4GB or less will see an annual increase of £1 per month, those on 5GB to 99GB an annual increase of £1.25 per month and those on 100GB or more an annual increase of £1.50 per month.
“Adopting a tiered approach to ‘pounds and pence’ price rises is arguably fairer than the flat-rate model that we’ve seen other providers take. However, the price increases set out by Three for smaller data allowances are still high in proportion to the initial costs, especially for many customers who are on cheaper contracts.
“For example, customers on Three’s 4GB 24 month Lite SIM only plan at £7 per month will see an annual increase of £1 a month - a 14% rise - which is more than they would have seen on the inflation-linked model.
“For broadband customers, Three have adopted a flat-rate approach which will see broadband prices rise annually by £2 a month. This is a smaller increase than the £3 per month blanket annual rise that Vodafone, TalkTalk, BT/EE and Plusnet have introduced.
“While it’s good to see Three tier mobile mid-contract price rises and offer a more competitive flat-rate rise for broadband customers, a significant number of Three customers will likely still see material increases in relation to their initial price next April.
“As providers announce their changes ahead of the new rules coming into effect in January 2025, we’d encourage customers to stay alert to what price increases they will be subject to and shop around to make sure they are getting the best deal.”
Harriet Atkinson
Telecoms PR Manager
harriet.atkinson@uswitch.com
About Uswitch
Uswitch is one of the UK’s top comparison websites for home services switching, including energy, broadband and mobiles.
More people go to Uswitch to switch their energy, broadband and mobile than any other site, and we have saved consumers over £2.7 billion off their bills since we launched in September 2000.
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