Social tariff uptake still below 10% despite wider availability

Ofcom's latest Pricing and Consumer Engagement Report shows social tariff uptake continues to lag far behind eligibility levels.

More than 500,000 UK households now use discounted broadband and mobile tariffs, but this represents less than 10% of those who could qualify.

The regulator says awareness remains low despite wider availability, transparency measures, and industry commitments to promote affordability support.

Illustration: Choose.co.uk

Social tariff uptake remains below 10% of eligible households

Ofcom's latest Pricing and Consumer Engagement Report shows that 532,000 UK households were using a social tariff for broadband or mobile services as of June 2025.

The regulator estimates that between 4 million and 8 million households could be eligible, meaning uptake remains below 10% of those who qualify.

Social tariffs are discounted broadband and mobile packages offered to customers receiving certain benefits, typically priced between around £12 and £20 per month depending on the provider and service.

Availability has expanded significantly in recent years. Most major broadband providers, including BT, Sky, Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone, now offer at least one social tariff, alongside a growing number of smaller providers. TalkTalk remains the only major UK broadband provider without a standard social tariff.

Ofcom's provider-level data shows social tariff adoption is concentrated among a small number of providers. BT accounts for around 64% of all fixed broadband social tariff connections, followed by Sky at 24%, Virgin Media O2 at 6%, Vodafone at 4%, and KCOM at 2%.

Awareness remains low despite regulatory and industry measures

While the number of providers offering social tariffs has increased roughly ten-fold since 2020 - from three to more than 30 - lack of awareness remains a major barrier to wider adoption.

Ofcom's consumer research found that around 70% of eligible households are unaware that social tariffs exist, despite wider availability and efforts to improve promotion.

The regulator has introduced a series of measures in recent years intended to improve transparency and access. These include enabling automated eligibility checks using Department for Work and Pensions data in 2022, allowing providers to confirm eligibility without requiring customers to submit documents.

In 2023, Ofcom also began publishing provider-level social tariff take-up data, aimed at increasing transparency and enabling comparisons between providers. More recently, Ofcom has supported voluntary industry commitments such as the Telecoms Consumer Charter, which includes pledges from providers to promote affordability support and assist vulnerable customers.

Yet despite these successive regulatory and industry initiatives, awareness and uptake have increased only gradually, with a majority of eligible households still not using the tariffs available to them.

Low uptake highlights limits of provider-funded model

The persistence of low uptake despite continued regulatory and industry efforts raises questions about the effectiveness of the current provider-funded model.

Social tariffs are currently provided on a voluntary basis by broadband companies, which must cover wholesale network access, equipment and support costs while charging significantly reduced monthly prices.

BT previously warned that social tariffs operate at very low or neutral margins, and increased the price of its Home Essentials tariff in 2025 following rising network and operating costs. Vodafone also launched one of the UK's lowest-priced social tariffs at £12 per month in 2022, but later increased prices to £20 after saying wholesale Openreach access charges limited how low tariffs could be set sustainably.

While social tariffs are now widely available across the market, adoption remains limited relative to eligibility, highlighting the challenges of relying on individual providers to fund and promote discounted services.

Meanwhile, broadband access has become increasingly necessary for managing benefits, banking, healthcare and public services, many of which are now delivered primarily online.

This shifts both the responsibility and cost of digital access onto households, including older people and those not receiving benefits, even as organisations - including government departments and public bodies such as the NHS - reduce their own operating costs through digital delivery.

Public funding is already used to support broadband infrastructure rollout through programmes such as Project Gigabit, but affordability support itself remains largely dependent on retail providers. With uptake remaining limited despite widespread availability and regulatory intervention, broadband affordability may ultimately require dedicated public funding rather than relying solely on voluntary commercial tariffs.