Three in four households paying £173 over the odds for SLOWER broadband – and BT users are worst off
Broadband customers are paying hundreds of pounds more for basic broadband when they could be getting much faster fibre broadband
BROADBAND customers languishing on basic packages are being ripped off, paying substantially more than they would for a much faster internet connection with the same company.
The average household is paying £172.56 more a year for a basic package than they would pay if they upgraded to entry-level fibre broadband, new research has found.
Comparison site IsMyBillFair.com analysed almost 16,000 bills to work out how much people were overpaying by.
The research found that customers could upgrade to much quicker broadband and save a wad of money too.
Most broadband providers offer three different package levels; basic broadband, entry level fibre and top speed fibre.
Basic gives you speeds of less than 30MB, entry fibre is speeds of 30MB to 60MB, while top level fibre does speeds of over 60MBs.
But long-standing customers who are on basic packages are paying hundreds too much.
How to bring down broadband bills
IT pays for consumers to be savvy when it comes to broadband and phone bills. Here's how to cut prices.
- If you're out of contract or nearing the end of your deal, call your provider and say you're going to leave unless it can better the deal you're on.
- Check out price comparison sites, such as Is My Bill Fair, Compare The Market and uSwitch, so you know the best deals available on the market - use this data when negotiating with your current provider.
- Don't just haggle on cost - you can negotiate for better speeds, an improved router and other freebies.
- If you don't like what's offered, walk away and find a better deal elsewhere.
Mark Pocock, home comms expert at comparison website BroadbandChoices.co.uk added: "When your contract is coming to an end you need to act fast, and know what your cancellation rights are at the expiry point – some providers require 30 days notice that you won’t be continuing before auto-renewing or moving you to a rolling contract.
"Be aware of your dates to ensure you never have to pay more, and are in a strong position for negotiation."
BT customers customers are the worst off, with 88 per cent paying at least £239.16 more a year than if they went for entry-level fibre.
Customers at most of the internet providers were even paying £94.68 a year more for the simplest option than for the quickest top speed packages.
Loyal basic customers with EE, Plusnet, Sky and TalkTalk were all paying more for basic broadband than a new customer would for super fast fibre.
Only BT basic customers got a cheaper deal on super-fast broadband, paying £1.92 less a month.
Chief executive of IsMyBillFair.com, Alex Perrin, explained: “It’s a bit like sitting in economy class but paying the price of a business class seat.
";If you don’t know what business class looks or feels like you’ll never challenge it."
Unsurprisingly, customers who want to stick with the cheapest speeds but go for a new package would save even more money.
The research showed that existing customers are paying £243.12 more a year on average than new basic customers.
Mr Perrin continued: "Customers that have been on the same package for a long period of time are simply stuck with old technology and packages that cost more with every price hike but never get any faster.
"If you’re on a basic package the fastest speed you could get is less than half of the best available speed. The problem is, for many the price doesn’t reflect this.”
Virgin Media doesn’t offer basic broadband services but it's customers are still in the same boat.
85 per cent of Virgin Media's entry fibre customers are paying £41.43 while 100Mb speeds are available for just £27 a month.
Data from Openreach shows that 96 per cent of the country is able to access fibre internet, so most people should be able to upgrade.
If you’re on a low speed and you challenge your provider you will more than likely come out with a faster broadband service at a lower price.
A BT spokesperson said: “We fully agree that customers should get great value and a service that suits them, and we believe that this is best achieved through clear communications with our customers about their options.
"Superfast fibre broadband is now available to over 90% of the UK and more than one million of our customers have upgraded their broadband to get these speeds in the last year.
"Even more of our customers can upgrade today by contacting us, and we’re continuing to remind all eligible customers about their options so they can get the best value and fastest possible speeds."
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