But in an open letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Martin Lewis explained how O2 customers will see bills rise by 40% more than they were initially told under the new system
Martin Lewis has urged Ofcom to tighten its rules on broadband and mobile price rises after O2 announced a new increase for its 15.6million customers.
O2 has announced almost all mobile and SIM-only contract customers will see their monthly mobile bill rise by £2.50 a month from April 2026 – up from the originally planned increase of £1.80 a month.
Telecom firms are being banned by Ofcom from linking mid-contract price rises to inflation – instead, customers must be told in “pounds and pence” how much their bill will increase by.
But in an open letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Martin Lewis explained how O2 customers will see bills rise by 40% more than they were initially told under the new system.
He said: “I am writing to request urgent action to, at the very least, tighten Ofcom’s existing rules over unannounced mid-contract price hikes for mobile, broadband and pay-TV providers.
“O2 has just announced a route to circumnavigate these consumer protections to raise prices.
“Without an improvement in protection, it is now possible, or even likely, more firms across all the sectors will follow O2’s new method, which could add up to hundreds of pounds for households, making the cost-of-living crisis worse and fuelling inflation.”
Martin Lewis explained that O2 has been allowed to introduce a bigger increase as it has written to customers, and told them they can leave penalty-free within 30 days of receiving the price notification.
An O2 spokesperson said: “With demand for mobile data at an all-time high, we’re introducing a 70p per month increase to annual price rises for O2 customers, effective each April.
“An annual rise of £2.50 a month – around 8p a day – continues to represent excellent value for services that customers are using more than ever before.
“We’ve again frozen prices on handset repayment plans and are investing £700m into our mobile network this year to ensure we meet growing demand and give our customers the fast and reliable connectivity they rely on.
“Customers on our social tariffs continue to be exempt from any price changes as part of our efforts to provide support to those who need it most.”
The Mirror has contacted Ofcom for comment.
Save money on your broadband bill
If you’re out of contract, compare prices online to see if you can get a better deal elsewhere. Check your current broadband speed, and ask yourself if you need this fast of a speed, or if you can save money by downgrading.
If you don’t want to leave your current provider, you can try haggling down your existing bill. When haggling, explain the better deals you’ve seen elsewhere then ask if the company can match or beat that price.
The best time to try and negotiate a better deal is near the end of your contract or, sometimes when a price rise has been announced.
You may be able to leave penalty-free when a mid-contract price rise is announced, although not if the price rise was already written into your contract. If you claim benefits, check if you can save money by signing up for a cheaper social tariff.
