Beat the Sky, BT and Virgin Media broadband hikes with four changes

This week, millions of broadband users, from providers including BT, EE, Plusnet, Shell, Sky, TalkTalk, Three, Virgin Media and Vodafone, will face price hikes of over 14 percent. Even if you are in the middle of a contract with an internet service provider, most firms have clauses in the deal that allow them to raise rates and that’s not great considering the recent cost of living surges. As a result, millions of families are now looking for cheaper alternatives to their broadband.

While it’s important to note that your ability to switch providers depends on whether you’re in the middle of a contract, or whether the deal is ending, there are ways in which you can save on bills.

The easiest way to lower your outgoings without switching providers is to give them a call, as there’s always a chance that a simple chat could result in your bills being slashed.

Often, the cancellation or retention teams offer the largest discounts, if try to be put through to those departments.

If that doesn’t work, here are some alternatives that you could consider.

SWITCH TO 5G

As broadband bills increase, many are ditching fibre broadband for 5G, as it’s cheaper and more flexible, while still offering good download speeds.

SWITCH TO AN ALT-NETWORK

Along with moving to the big Internet Service Providers such as BT, Sky or TalkTalk, it’s also worth looking at smaller, so-called Alt-net providers.

These ISPs often have very fast speeds at much lower prices so see if any have arrived on your street.

Names to look out for include Community Fibre, Toob, KCOM, Hyperoptic and Gigaclear.

A good example of the deals you can get comes from Community Fibre with the ISP offering its ultimate 1Gbps package for just £27 per month. That’s around the same price as a standard 70Mbps connection from BT which is over 10 times slower.

SWITCH TO SLOWER SPEEDS

Many of us are paying top dollar to get the fastest internet speeds, but depending on your circumstances, you may not even need such an expensive deal.

For example, if you live in a two-person household, even with both users using the internet a lot every day, you likely only need about 60Mbps, which could save you a lot of money without seeing any drop in the quality of the internet connection.

To get an idea of how much bandwidth you really need, you can use this online calculator.

SWITCH TO A SOCIAL TARIFF

If you are struggling to pay your bills, many ISPs including BT, Virgin Media, KCOM, Sky, and Vodafone offer social tariffs, which you may be eligible to access if you are on benefits.

It’s important to note that different providers have different criteria for qualification, but generally, you either need to be on Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, a Personal Independence Payment, a disability allowance, or a jobseeker’s allowance to access a social tariff.

Often these plans are far cheaper. For example, Vodafone offers an Essentials broadband & line deal at £12/month for an average 38Mb speed.

Meanwhile, BT offers 36 Mb speeds for £15 per month, with £9.99 paid upfront. If you are on Virgin Media, you can get a relatively slow 15Mb for £12.50 per month.

All you need to do to get this tariff is to apply on the provider’s website and prove your eligibility.

Once you have signed up, the company will verify every 12-24 months whether you are still eligible to receive a discounted broadband package.