Broadband and Mobile Phones: Prices
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department is taking steps to help tackle loyalty penalties for phone and broadband customers.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan
As regulator for telecoms, Ofcom has introduced a range of measures to improve transparency and consumer engagement in telecoms markets, including clearer end-of-contract notifications, new rules on in-contract price rises, and the One Touch Switching process to make switching broadband providers quicker and easier.
Ofcom’s 2026 pricing report shows that consumers who switch or renegotiate their contract typically pay less than those who remain out of contract, with over 2 million customers using One Touch Switching between September 2024 and the end of 2025. In addition, 26% of households switched at least one communications provider in the past year.
In February, the Government launched the Telecoms Consumer Charter, a public set of industry commitments that builds on Ofcom’s rules to ensure consumers get a fair deal.
Ofcom continues to monitor pricing practices and consumer outcomes closely and will take action where it identifies harm.
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