Fixed price broadband deals

Only four major broadband providers remain in the market offering fixed price broadband, and availability is limited, so it may only be an option now for some customers.

Fibrus, Hyperoptic, YouFibre, and Zen Internet all still offer fixed price broadband, yet most other providers have moved to inflation-linked annual price rises for in-contract customers.

Yet due to soaring inflation and the cost of living crisis, Ofcom are finally investigating the fairness of inflation-linked price rises, so things may change.

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At a glance: fixed price broadband

Four broadband providers specifically offer fixed price broadband, while others are more open, leaving it up to them to decide whether they'll increase prices or not.

TalkTalk offer customers living in fibre to the cabinet-only areas the option to take a Fixed Price Plus add-on, for between £3.50 and £4 extra per month. The add-on freezes the monthly price of the broadband deal, and protects customers from annual price rises. However, it can vary whether or not this offers good value for money.

Sky and NOW Broadband both have somewhat fairer terms in their contracts regarding price rises. They say prices may rise, but because they don't specify by how much, customers are given notice to end their contract if they do indeed raise prices. This was seen when both providers increased prices in the first half of 2023.

Sky increased prices in February 2023 for broadband and TV customers by an average of 8.1%. However, they allowed customers to give notice and end their contracts penalty free if they didn't agree to the price increase.

NOW Broadband increased prices in July 2023, following initially saying prices wouldn't be going up in March 2023. However, when they did increase customers were also given the right to exit their contract early.

Up until April 2023, Virgin Media also used to follow a similar method, however they've recently updated their contracts to specify annual price rises of RPI + 3.9%, and customers no longer have the right to exit their contract early if prices do go up by this much.

In the following guide, we've looked at why broadband prices go up and which providers impose similar inflation-linked annual price rises.

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Fixed price broadband deals

Promises of no mid-contract price hikes are much less common than they used to be, with almost all broadband providers in the UK switching to Consumer Price Index (CPI) based annual price rises, with some even adopting the higher Retail Price Index (RPI) model instead.

Yet, there are still four broadband providers who offer fixed price broadband packages. Let's look at these exceptions to the rule, and see which providers pledge to keep customers' prices the same during their contracts.

Fibrus

Fibrus are an independent full fibre network, with availability mostly focused in Northern Ireland where they cover around 40% of premises.

They specifically advertise no min-contract price rises, and say prices won't go up during a customer's minimum term period.

Here are some of Fibrus' broadband deals:

While prices won't go up during the 24-month minimum term, Fibrus do impose out of contract price rises, which can range from £39.99 to £59.99 per month depending on the package, so customers should be aware of this.

Read our full review of Fibrus broadband.

Hyperoptic

Hyperoptic actively campaign against no mid-contract price rises and have made it one of their major selling points.

It's extremely unlikely due to their marketing activity around fixed prices for this approach to change, as they also campaign for Ofcom, the ASA and CAP to further protect consumers against annual price rises.

Here are a few of Hyperoptic's main fixed price broadband deals:

Hyperoptic promise no mid-contract price hikes and guarantee that the advertised price of the broadband package at the start of the minimum term will remain the same until the contract ends.

At the end of a minimum term prices will increase to the out of contract price quoted at the time of ordering. However, it's worth being aware Hyperoptic's terms of service reserve the right to increase prices at any time.

Read our full review of Hyperoptic broadband.

YouFibre

YouFibre are a small independent full fibre broadband provider who also commit to no mid-contract price rises for customers who take out one of their 18-month deals.

Here are their current prices for fixed price broadband:

YouFibre's terms of service explicitly state they won't increase prices during a minimum term period.

Unfortunately, YouFibre have just a very small presence, with most of their coverage in the North East, but active connections are dotted around the UK in places including East Kilbridge in Glasgow, to Swansea and Barry in Wales. So, it's worth checking your postcode to see what's available in your area.

YouFibre also offer contract-free broadband on a rolling monthly basis, you can read more about YouFibre in our full review.

Zen Internet

Zen Internet still promise no price rises for the life of the contract. However, they dropped their lifetime price guarantee in May 2022, so customers outside of a minimum term may now see prices rise.

Here is some of their latest pricing:

Zen Internet are the one fixed price broadband provider that has wide availability across the UK, as they resell connections on the Openreach network.

However, Zen's pricing is also very expensive compared to other broadband providers, so it could be a false economy to pick them for their fixed prices over a cheaper provider.

TalkTalk

TalkTalk have applied annual price rises of CPI + 3.7% to their contracts since early 2021, but they also offer customers an add-on called 'Fixed Price Plus', which they can add to their package during the online checkout process.

Costing between £3.50 and £4 per month, Fixed Price Plus promises not to increase prices during the minimum term at all, and then not to increase prices above inflation when the customer becomes out of contract with them.

When it was initially launched it offered questionable value for money as when inflation was low it could end up costing customer's more than to accept an annual price rise. However, with inflation now soaring, it does offer savings over inflation-linked price rises, particularly if the contract is taken out closer to the next set of price increases.

Unsurprisingly though, it's been removed from the full fibre checkout process and seems to currently only be available with one of TalkTalk's Fibre 35 or Fibre 65 packages.

NOW Broadband

NOW Broadband state in their terms and conditions that "prices may rise during a contract", which gives them the right to increase prices during a minimum term.

In July 2023, NOW increased prices of their broadband plans by £3.50 per month, despite previously saying only out of allowance call charges would be going up in March 2023.

Because these price rises are fairly discretionary and not specified by amount in their terms and conditions, NOW also gave customers the opportunity to give notice and end their contract early without penalty.

This approach does offer customers some comfort in that at least if prices do go up, they can switch away for a better deal without paying any early termination fees.

Here are some of their best broadband deals:.

NOW Broadband also offer some of the cheapest deals in the market, so for cost conscious broadband customers, they're a pretty safe bet.

Read our NOW Broadband review.

Sky

Sky, who also own NOW Broadband, also state that "prices may rise during a contract", but don't specify a particular amount.

Like NOW, they also decided to increase prices for existing broadband and TV customers, however unlike most other providers this was below the rate of inflation, with increases of just 8.1% on average. Sky broadband customers were also given the right to exit their contract early.

Here are some of Sky's best broadband deals:

Customers may opt for Sky for their premium broadband offering and untarnished customer services record, along with the ability to save money on bundling Sky TV.

However, while their price rises have been lower than most, for example BT increased prices by an inflation-busting 14.4%, like NOW, they also still increase prices mid-contract.

Read more in our Sky broadband review.

Virgin Media

Virgin Media used to state in their terms of service that they may increase prices at any time. However, they also set out that if they did, they'll notify customers of "right to cancel this agreement without paying an early disconnection fee", as long as they provided 30 days' notice.

In 2023, they've announced they'd be increasing prices by an average of 13.8% for broadband and TV customers, although customers were free to leave if they gave notice within 30 days of being informed prices were going up.

However, Virgin Media also announced their intentions to move to a Retail Price Index (RPI) + 3.9% model for annual price rises, for contracts taken out after April 2023.

Bringing their terms in line with partner company O2, stating a specific price rise like this will mean customers won't be able to leave their contracts early in future. RPI is also higher than the Consumer Price Index (CPI) most providers use, which amounts to an excess price rise of around 2.9%.

Up till now, Virgin Media O2 customers on Volt bundles have benefitted from Virgin Media's fairer terms on price rises, despite the O2 portion of their bill going up more. From April 2023 however, this has now changed, as well as for any other Virgin Media broadband and TV customer.

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Annual price rises

Unfortunately, almost all of the broadband market has now moved to incorporate annual inflation-based price rises into their contracts.

In 2022, we also saw Gigaclear remove their no mid-contract price promise, and Vodafone Pro no longer including a fixed price guarantee either.

This means that when a customer takes out a broadband contract, even during their minimum term period, the provider will increase prices against inflation around April of each year.

Most providers use the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and then add 3.9% to this figure, this percentage is then the amount they increase every customer's bill by each year.

Current regulation means because the contracts explicitly set out how much the price will go up by, customers can't leave their contracts early, even though the increase is above the level of inflation.

Here are the current annual price rise terms of each provider who doesn't offer fixed price broadband:

However, due to soaring levels of inflation and continued call for change from consumer groups and charities, Ofcom is now finally investigating the fairness of inflation-linked price rises.

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Other charges and add-ons

It's worth being aware prices for other services, including landline calls or some add-ons, can also be increased during a minimum term as part of a provider's terms of service.

For example, customers with a home phone line could see increases to the price of:

• Pay as you go call rates
• Inclusive call plan rates
• Extra services like call waiting, premium voicemail, or call barring

Similarly, customers who take a TV service may also see prices of premium channel packs change, as well as access to on-demand apps, or whole home services.

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Provider changes

It's possible that some existing customers may be on contracts with fixed prices, even though those providers have now changed their stances.

For example, customers who took out broadband with Gigaclear before 1st March 2022 will have fixed prices until their contract ends.

SSE Broadband also used to offer fixed price broadband but closed to new customers when the company was sold to TalkTalk in August 2022. Existing SSE customers within their minimum terms where fixed prices apply, would be allowed to leave early if prices were increased.

Customers of Vodafone Pro Xtra broadband also had fixed prices included in their list of benefits until recently. The new Pro II package, introduced in November 2022, no longer offers fixed prices and so the general annual price rise of CPI + 3.9% will apply to these contracts.

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Summary: Has fixed price broadband become a false economy?

While many of the big broadband providers no longer offer fixed prices, there are still a small select few who do.

However, Fibrus, Hyperoptic and YouFibre all have limited availability across the UK, and while Zen Internet is available nationwide, their pricing is more expensive to start with.

It's possible then, that while annual price rises are a bone of contention, it may be a false economy to try and avoid them by choosing a fixed price broadband deal unless it's a good price anyway.

For example, all three of the UK's cheapest broadband deals include annual price rises in their terms, but start at just £22 per month.

NOW Broadband may currently be the best option, as though they say prices may increase, they've set a strong precedence of allowing customers the option of switching away for a better deal if and when prices do increase.

Compare broadband prices in your area, or read more about why broadband prices are going up.