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.

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

*source: BroadbandChoices

Are you a TalkTalk customer? Would the price increases make you switch providers? Let me know in the comment box below. 

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