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When you take out a contract with a mobile network – be that SIM-only or for a handset – you might expect that the monthly price listed will be what you’ll pay for the life of the contract, but in fact that’s not typically true.
Mid-contract price rises are now a common practice among mobile networks, meaning that your monthly costs can rise after the first year of a contract.
But it’s a complicated business too, as some networks raise prices more than others, and some don’t at all. To simplify things we’ve highlighted which networks don’t have mid-contract price rises, followed by the exact mid-contract price rise terms for each network that does, and then information on what you can do if you’re already in a contract that’s set to get more expensive.
Networks without mid-contract price rises
The following networks don’t raise your prices at the time of writing – either because they don’t actually offer long-term contracts, or because they simply choose not to.
Sky Mobile
Sky Mobile is rare among networks in that it promises that there won’t be any mid-contract price rises on its current plans.
Giffgaff
Most of Giffgaff’s plans are just 30-day rolling plans anyway, and since price rises tend to happen annually, that would automatically exclude them. But the network also sells 18-month plans, and promises not to raise those prices mid-contract either.
Honest Mobile
Honest Mobile offers a choice of 30-day or 12-month plans, but in either case your price will actually drop over time rather than increasing. It’s reduced by 5% each year, topping out at a 30% decrease if you stay long enough for that.
Talk Home
Talk Home offers 30-day and 12-month plans, and it promises not to raise prices throughout 2024, so there’s a chance the network might do so in the somewhat near future.
Smarty, Spusu, VOXI, Asda Mobile, Lyca Mobile, 1pMobile, Lebara, and ParentShield
These networks all offer short-term, typically 30-day plans (though up to 12 months in the case of Lyca Mobile, 1pMobile, and Lebara), so mid-contract price rises don’t typically apply to them.
Note that in the case of Lyca Mobile though it only promises no mid-contract price rises until 2026.
Spusu also only promises a price freeze until 2026, though as its plans are all just 30-day ones any increases wouldn’t be “mid-contract” anyway.
Networks with mid-contract price rises
The following networks all have mid-contract price rises of some kind, though how this is calculated can vary. In most cases however the rise relates to the CPI (Consumer Price Index) or the RPI (Retail Price Index), both of which are measures of the rate of inflation, so you’ll see both of these mentioned a lot below.
Note also that if you have a plan dating back to before any of those listed below, then in most cases your prices won’t rise mid-contract at all.
These details were correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing, but may later differ – especially if you’ve taken out a contract or upgraded since this article was last updated. However we’ve also included links to the relevant pages for each network, so you can find all the latest details there.
EE
If you have a plan with EE, then on or after the 31st of March each year you’ll see an increase of 3.9% plus the CPI figure from December (published in January). As this is a measure of the rate of inflation it fluctuates, but the figure EE is using at the time of writing is 4% - so that plus the 3.9% is a 7.9% total increase in charges.
You can see EE’s terms in full here
Three
If you joined or upgraded on Three between May 29th, 2015, and October 28th, 2020, then your contract prices will increase each May based on the January RPI figure, which for 2022 was 7.8%.
If you joined or upgraded between October 29th, 2020, and October 31st, 2022, then your monthly charge will increase by 4.5% in April each year – this increase isn’t tied to the RPI or CPI, it’s just a flat 4.5% regardless of how they fluctuate.
For those who jointed or upgraded from November 1st, 2022, onwards, their price will increase by the preceding December CPI rate +3.9%.
Note that if you’re a Three Your Way customer then the increase will only apply to your airtime plan, and not to device payments.
At the time of writing, the December CPI rate is 4%, so in total that means a 7.9% increase.
You can see Three’s full current terms here
Vodafone
If you joined or upgraded on Vodafone between May 5th, 2016, and December 9th, 2020, then your bill will increase each April in line with the RPI, based on the RPI figure from March of that year.
If you joined or upgraded after December 9th, 2020, then your increase will be tied to the CPI, plus 3.9%. Vodafone uses the CPI figure from January and applies the change in April each year.
Check out Vodafone’s full terms here
O2
If you took out a plan or upgraded with O2 before March 25th, 2021, then O2 will increase your price in line with RPI each year. For reference, the RPI at the time of writing is 4.9%.
If however you signed up or upgraded on or after March 25th, 2021, then your price will be increased by RPI plus 3.9% annually. If RPI is negative then O2 will just use the 3.9%, and in all cases it will use the RPI rate from February of that year, with the change being applied to your bill in April.
Note that these increases only apply to your airtime plan (your allowances), not your device plan (the cost of your handset).
Check out O2’s full terms here
BT Mobile
BT owns EE, so unsurprisingly BT Mobile’s terms here are largely the same. It will increase prices by the CPI rate plus 3.9% on the 31st of March each year, based on the CPI rate published in January of the same year – which in 2024 was 4.0%.
Note that BT Mobile no longer offers plans to new customers, so this will only apply to existing customers.
You can see BT Mobile’s full terms here
iD Mobile
If you took out or upgraded a plan with iD Mobile between the 1st of March 2020 and the 1st of November 2022, then your monthly price will increase in line with the RPI each year. The RPI figure will be taken in February and applied to your contract in April of the same year. In 2022, that meant an increase of 7.8%.
If you’ve joined or upgraded on or after the 1st of November 2022, then your price will rise in April by the CPI rate published in February plus 3.9%. For reference, in 2024 that meant an increase of 7.9%.
Read iD Mobile's full CPI price rise terms here
Plusnet Mobile
Plusnet Mobile customers will be subject to an annual price increase of 3.9% plus the CPI rate published in January of that year. The increase will come into play on or after March 1st every year.
However, Plusnet Mobile no longer sells plans, so this only applies to existing customers.
To read Plusnet Mobile’s terms in full, head here
Talkmobile
For plans taken out or upgraded after March 30th, 2021, Talkmobile will apply an annual price increase of 3.9% plus the CPI rate from January of that year. The increase will be applied in April of the same year. As with most other networks using the CPI rate, CPI will be ignored if it’s negative (but the 3.9% increase will still apply).
For most older Talkmobile plans, the annual increase will be in line with the RPI rate from March of that year.
Find Talkmobile’s full terms and conditions here
Tesco Mobile
Tesco Mobile never used to have mid-contract price rises, but from 2023 onwards it does on some plans, with the price set to rise each April by 3.9% plus the CPI rate set in January of that year.
If you’re still within your minimum contract and joined Tesco Mobile or upgraded before March 27th, 2023, then your price won’t rise. It also won’t rise until after your contract ends if you’re on a Clubcard Price deal taken out after March 27th, 2023.
So in other words, this annual price rise only applies to customers who took out a non-Clubcard Price deal on or after March 27th, 2023, and those who are out of contract.
Read Tesco Mobile’s full terms here
What you can do if your price is set to rise
If you’re tied into a contract where a price rise either will happen or has happened and you’d rather not pay it, your options are typically quite limited. You can usually get out of your contract, but unless you’re still in a cooling off period at the very start, it typically requires termination fees, which can mean paying off much or all of the balance.
However, once your contract is up you do have options to avoid price rises in future, and we’ll detail them below.
Alternative options that don’t have mid-contract price rises
If you want to avoid mid-contract price rises, then you have a few options. For one thing, at the time of writing Sky Mobile and Giffgaff won’t raise your price mid-contract, so you could always sign up with one of these networks.
Alternatively, you could switch to a 30-day plan. Whatever network you’re on, these won’t be affected by mid-contract price rises, as they’re too short term. So even the networks above that have mid-contract price rises won’t do for 30-day plans.
Similarly Pay As You Go isn’t subject to these rises, since you’re literally just paying for what you use. However neither Pay As You Go nor 30-day plans will include a phone, so if you need a new handset you’ll have to buy one outright if going down one of these routes.
It’s worth noting also that contract pricing tends to be lower per month than the same allowances would cost on a 30-day plan, so even with the price rises you’re often getting a better deal on a long-term contract, just as long as you’re happy to stick with that network for a while.
