TalkTalk to raise line rental prices again
TalkTalk becomes the third provider since August to announce a rise in line rental costs.
TalkTalk is to push up its line rental price by 45p from 1st January, affecting all of its phone and internet customers.
The price of line rental will go up from £14.50 to £14.95, a 3.1% rise, while it is also pushing up prices across a range of its TV, internet and phone packages.
This news comes just weeks after Sky announced a massive hike of 18% in its line rental costs, which will come into force in December.
Price rises
This will be the second time TalkTalk has pushed up line rental costs this year as in May the price went up from £13.80 to £14.50 a month.
The January price hike, as detailed on its pricing notifications page, will also see the company’s Plus package and Plus TV package go up by £1 from £14.50 to £15.50 and its mobile rates go up to 11.30p per minute for day time calls and 5.30p per minute for evening calls.
The company is also adding on £1 to the following services: Talk UK Weekend, Talk Global Anytime, Talk Global Evening & Weekend, Talk International Anytime, Talk International Evening & Weekend, Talk Total Evening & Weekend, Talk Total Anytime, Talk 3BB, Talk International Evening & Weekend IPS, Talk International Anytime IPS, Talk UK Evening and Weekend and Talk UK Anytime.
The price of calls for directory enquiries and premium and service rate numbers are also going up from 13.1p to 13.87p per call.
Network investment
TalkTalk said the reason it needs to push up prices is because it’s "continuing to invest in its network" and this extra investment will allow it to "best serve its broadband customers".
Charles Whitney, spokesperson for TalkTalk, said: “While price changes are sometimes necessary, we're committed to offering the best value phone, broadband, TV and mobile services and coming up with new ways for customers to save money.”
However, it’s unlikely customers will feel the same way. We reported in June it received 0.56 complaints for every 1,000 customers – far more than any of its rivals. This poor record faced with the fact it now has the second highest charge for line rental is unlikely to go down well
Charges across the market
Line rental for Sky customers is going up by a massive 18% in December while BT customers can expect a hike of 5.9% from 5th January.
After the January price hike TalkTalk will become the second most expensive company for line rental, behind BT.
When the price increases come into effect, this is how they will compare.
|
Provider |
Line rental cost |
|
Primus |
£8.69 |
|
Plusnet |
£12.99 |
|
Virgin Media |
£13.90 |
|
Sky |
£14.50 |
|
TalkTalk |
£14.95 |
|
BT |
£15.45 |
How to get the best deal
As three providers have already announced hikes in the past two months, I wouldn’t be surprised if more followed. As with energy prices, all the major companies often follow suit and hike up bills in tandem.
The best way to get a good deal, be it on broadband, phone or TV, or a package of all three, is to shop around.
I’ve listed the current cheapest package deals below, but if you want to compare other deals check out BroadbandChoices.
The cheapest broadband, TV and phone packages
|
Provider* |
Package |
Broadband Usage |
Speed |
Calls |
Offers |
First Year Cost with line rental |
|
Essential Collection |
Unlimited |
Up to 30Mb |
Weekend |
6 Months Half Price + £75 Credit (credit offer ends 31 Oct; half price offer ends 30 Nov) |
£316.80 |
|
|
TV Essential + Broadband + Evening and Weekend Calls |
10GB |
Up to 16Mb |
Evening & Weekend |
£25 Sainsbury's Gift Card (ends 10th Jan) |
£363.15 |
|
|
Plus TV |
Unlimited |
Up to 14Mb |
Anytime |
12 months free LoveFilm Instant subscription |
£398.00 |
|
|
Start Bundle: Sky Entertainment + Broadband Everyday Lite + Talk Weekends |
2GB |
Up to 14Mb |
Weekend |
£25 M&S Voucher |
£434.18 |
*source: BroadbandChoices
Are you a TalkTalk customer? Would the price increases make you switch providers? Let me know in the comment box below.
More from lovemoney.com:
Sky customers: make too many calls and you may be cut off
Directory enquiries: the trus cost of calling 118 numbers
Most Recent
Comments
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You are so right, electricblue, the last thing we want is leftwing claptrap interrupting the flow of rightwing claptrap!
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Primus is cheaper than Talk Talk and also offer a yearly deal. UK call centres and none of the Talk Talk lies. As far as price inflation, does China blame theirs on their own unelected and untaxed elite then Mike? I know your Chinese rosy tints are cheap at the pound shop but you really need to give the lefty claptrap a rest.
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Like the first three repliers I have paid 12 months in advance and enjoy a good service at a good price. I've been with Tiscali, now TalkTalk (Actually now AOL) for as long as I can remember and, like many other service providers, they will allow you to pay over the odds unless you keep checking. A few months ago I queried my bills which had crept up to £35/month as a business service and got it reduced by about 60% and possibly more by quoting a BT offer and paying line rental up front. I now pay little more than the nominal line rental for free calls, broadband and rental including the monthly component of the annual payment. The bit that annoys me is that they are now foreign owned like so many of our service providers. Where is it all going to end?
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28 October 2012