John Lewis Broadband goes unlimited

At the same time they're changing their prices - but while line rental and call charges will be increasing, the monthly price of the broadband will be coming down.

Customers signing up before the changes come into effect on May 10th are being advised that they'll be paying the new prices after the free introductory period ends.

Credit: Tony Baggett/Shutterstock.com

Simple plans

John Lewis have been selling the same three Plusnet-based broadband and phone deals at the same prices since they launched in 2012.

Back then, Plusnet themselves were still offering mostly capped broadband packages; their first unlimited deal only appeared in December of that year.

But while BT still offer capped data deals, and Sky offer their fibre broadband in capped and unlimited form, the majority of ISPs have seemingly embraced the simplicity of the one-size-fits-all unlimited deal.

Fittingly then, for John Lewis Broadband, whose packages have always been refreshingly simple (if slightly more expensive), all their customers will now get unlimited data, whether they're new or have been with the ISP for a while.

That means that from May 10th, the Standard deal will be no more - but those who are upgraded to Unlimited as a result of the change won't pay any extra for the boost in their allowance, and existing Unlimited customers will find their broadband costs less.

Note the last line of the following table: alongside unlimiting their capped deals, the ISP are also bringing in a new fibre deal, offering up to 76Mb.

It's important to note, however, that with the change in prices, John Lewis have also removed the free introductory period.

For new Unlimited customers, that takes the cost of a year's broadband from £108 (six months free, plus six months at £18 a month) plus line rental up to £132 plus line rental.

Similarly, new Fibre customers signing up before May 10th will get their first year of broadband for £225 plus line rental, while those who sign up after that date will find they're paying £270 plus line rental over the year.

Line rental

Speaking of line rental, that's rising by £2 a month, from £13.50 to £15.50.

To be fair to John Lewis, they haven't raised their line rental or call charge prices since launch, and with the bigger providers charging £17 and more they still seem inexpensive (rather than cheap).

Everyone will still get evening and weekend calls to local and national landlines included with their line rental, and the price of the additional call bundles will remain the same:

• Talk Anytime (UK calls, plus 25% discount on select international destinations): £5 a month
• Talk Anytime International (unlimited UK calls, plus 300 minutes to select countries): £7 a month

In fact, the international bundle will improve slightly come May 10th, as from then the number of countries we can use those 300 minutes to call will increase from 20 to 35 - although anyone dialling somewhere not included in that list can expect to see call charges rise.

Finally, they'll be introducing a new bolt-on for customers taking either of the extra call bundles: for an extra £5 a month, those with anytime calls can add unlimited calls to mobile phones.