TAKE A HIKE
Major mobile firm to hike bills for one million customers from Friday
Plus we explain how to avoid the increase
A MAJOR mobile firm is hiking bills for around one million customers from Friday.
Sky Mobile customers who are out of contract will see prices rise from February 14 by £18 a year.
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Customers on pay monthly and Sim-only deals will see their monthly bill rise by £1.50 a month.
Those who are still within their contract will not see any price change.
Sky Mobile is also hiking the cost of calls to the EU and EEA by 4p to 25p per minute, while calls to the rest of the world will be increasing by £1 to £3.50 per minute.
The cost of sending an international text message outside of Europe will rise by 20p to 95p.
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According to the latest data from Ofcom, 37% of all pay monthly mobile customers are out of contract.
Given that Sky Mobile has approximately three million customers, it is estimated that up to one million customers could see their bills increase.
However, customers who are still within their contract term will not experience any change in their bills.
Customers who are unsure about the status of their contract can text ‘INFO’ and their date of birth in the format DDMMYY to 85075.
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The provider should then message back straight away to clarify, and how much they will charge in exit fees for leaving.
Totally Money chief executive Alastair Douglas said: “There’s a lot of deals out there, with varying contract lengths, voucher incentives, and offers.
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"Just shop around to see what each provider is offering, and double check the network coverage before signing up.
“It might also be worth considering buying a handset and getting a separate sim-only plan — Ofcom estimates that on average it’s 23% cheaper than getting a packaged contract.
"You could even purchase the phone with a 0% credit card, allowing you to spread payments for up to 22 months without paying any interest.”
A zero-interest credit card can be useful for buying pricier items if needed, but users should beware spending more on the card and plan to pay it off by the end of the term.
Interest-free credit cards
A 0% purchase credit card lets you spend money and make repayments without any interest for a set period.
This can be useful when making a large purchase such as a new kitchen as you can spread the cost, as long as you keep up with the repayments.
The main factors to consider with an interest-free credit card is the deal period and any fees.
The best 0% credit cards will be marketed based on their deal period.
You can usually apply for an interest-free credit card online or at a bank's branch - but be aware of when you need to start spending or moving money by, as you could lose the offer if you fail to do this within a certain window.
The card won't be interest-free forever and will move onto a pricey APR at the end of the deal.
This is where the banks make their money as they rely on you falling onto the higher interest rates.
You can beat this by checking how long the interest-free period is for and understanding if you can clear your balance before the deal term ends.
Interest-free periods can vary depending on the type of card and the provider.
You may be able to get 0% rates for up two years or more.
You still need to make at least the minimum monthly repayments though or you will be moved onto a more pricey annual percentage rate (APR), which can be up to 20%.
Credit card providers only have to offer their advertised rate to 51% of applicants.
The actual interest-free period you get will depend on your credit rating.
The best interest-free credit card deals will be offered to those with good or excellent credit scores.
This can make it harder to get the best deals if you have arrears or defaults in your credit report, or if you have been made bankrupt.
Just because you have a 0% interest credit card, there are still some traps you could fall into that incur charges.
There may be charges for cash withdrawals or to transfer money.
The interest-free period may not cover everything, so there may be interest, for example, on a balance transfer card for spending.
A Sky Mobile spokesperson said: “We always aim to provide an outstanding service alongside some of the best value plans on the market.
“To ensure we can continue to invest in our services and deliver a great experience, the majority of our out of contract customers will see their monthly bill increase by £1.50 in February.”
It comes after inflation-linked mid-contract price rises on phones, pay-TV and broadband was banned by Ofcom.
Sky Mobile has traditionally issued its price hikes in fixed amounts of pounds and pence, unlike other networks that tie their increases to inflation.
Most other mobile networks implement their mid-contract price increases around April 1.
As of January 17, all telecom firms are required by regulator Ofcom to display mid-contract price increases in pounds and pence.
Under the new rules, the maximum permissible price rises will be capped at between £1 and £3 per month.
But this will only apply to contracts taken out after a certain date, which varies between provider.
Those with contracts that started before will still have inflation-linked bill hikes applied.
What other mobile bills are rising?
It's not just Sky hiking bills. Here we explain what other providers are doing.
BT
BT, which also owns EE and Plusnet, said that from March 2025, the price of mobile contracts will rise by £1.50 a month (SIM-only) or £4 (handset plans).
The pounds and pence rise will apply to contracts taken out from April 10, 2024.
For those who took out a deal before this, a 6.4% rise will apply (3.9% and January's inflation rate, which was 2.5%).
Vodafone
Vodafone mobile phone customers will see their bills rise by £1.80 a month.
These pounds and pence rises will apply to contracts taken out after July 2, 2024.
For bills prior to this date an inflation linked price rise of 3.9% plus January's inflation figure will apply. This rate is due to be announced on February 19.
The new prices will apply from April 1.
How to avoid the mobile hike
HERE'S what action you can take to try to avoid mobile price rises:
If you're in contract - haggle your price down
If you're still in contract you unfortunately won't be allowed to leave your contract penalty free as a result of the increase.
Mobile users can typically only cancel their contract if an increase is what regulator Ofcom deems is "of material detriment" to them, and an inflation linked increase is unlikely to fit this bill.
So your best option will be to haggle your price down. Use a mobile comparison site, such as to see if you could save by switching elsewhere.
Then take this to your provider and argue that cheaper prices elsewhere, alongside a price hike, mean you're not happy with the service provided.
If you're out of contract and want to stay - also haggle
Again, compare prices elsewhere and then come armed with the facts when you're talking to a customer services rep.
If it won't budge on price, see if you could get extra minutes, texts, data or freebies such as Spotify or Apple Music chucked in.
Switch to a Sim-only deal if you're out of contract
If you're out of contract, check if you can save by switching elsewhere.
You can either take out a new contract or, if you now own the handset outright, consider getting a cheap rolling Sim-only tariff.
These can start from around just £5 a month.
Three
Three has said mobile price increases will be capped between £1 and £1.50 depending on the data allowance.
The pounds and pence rises will apply for contracts taken out after September 8, 2024.
For those before rises are set at 6.4% (3.9% and January's inflation rate, which was 2.5%).
02
Customers of 02 mobile will pay £1.80 more on contracts started after January 9, 2025.
For those taken out before, an inflation linked price rise of 3.9% plus January's inflation figure will apply. This rate is due to be announced on February 19.
Tesco Mobile
Tesco Mobile said someone on a £14.99 a month a deal would see their monthly contract price increase by 90p in April.
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While, customers on a £30 a month deal will see their basic monthly price increase by £1.80.
That's for contracts taken out after December 17, 2024. On those before this date, prices will rise 6.4% (3.9% and January's inflation rate, which was 2.5%).
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