2025-03-01: Price inflation notification (from April 2025)

Overview: this constitutes our official notification of price rises for specific services types, which come into effect for the April 2025 billing cycle. All existing orders with the following services will experience an automatic price change, and any new orders placed from today onwards will carry the pricing with immediate effect.

### IMPORTANT: Please read carefully as some "old tech" such as PSTN lines and ISDN will be increased by 10%.

Factors influencing the price increases

Tier 1 suppliers have announced prices increases, and these affect all wholesale channels in the UK market; we have chosen to pass on the increase without adding any additional increase of our own. The key drivers to the Tier 1 supplier increases are cited as:

• RPI has lowered to 3.6% (as published 19-Feb-2025) 
  • The Retail Prices Index tracks things like train travel, car tax, tobacco & alcohol.
• CPI has lowered to 3.9% (as published 19-Feb-2025)
  • The Consumer Prices Index tracks things like pensions, Universal Credit & sick pay.
  • This is used by the wholesale networks as the current year base increase, plus annual increase

Additionally, the communications industry has to absorb increased costs due to OfCom approving requests made by the main UK infrastructure giant Openreach; see example UK altnets slam Ofcom BT wholesale tariff approval | Computer Weekly 

Official UK Government definitions and rates for both RPI & CPI can be found here: Inflation and price indices - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) 

The price increases taking effect in April 2025

All prices exclude VAT @ 20%

The good news first: many of the services have no increase at all, meaning that in real terms (factoring in CPI of 3.9%) this is cost reduction, in addition to services reduced last year too.

HOW TO POSTPONE THE INCREASE: Many services can be renegotiated onto new 24-month contracts, starting 1-Apr-2025 at the 2024 prices, thus avoiding the increase. This is on a case-by-case and account basis so please reach out to your account manager.

DECREASE: all other business customers

• Microsoft DNS only licenses: no increase (real-terms 3.6% decrease)
• Microsoft 365 licenses: no increase (real-terms 3.6% decrease)
  • Based upon discount applied by renewing on 12-month term
• SmarterMail: no increase (real-terms 3.6% decrease)
• Hosting (non-UK data centres): no increase (real-terms 3.6% decrease)
  • Includes VPS servers (real-terms 3.6% decrease)
• Domain registration: no increase (real-terms 3.6% decrease)
• 
  
• 10 Gbps DIA: no increase (real-terms 3.6% decrease)

NO CHANGE: all other business customers

• Dedicated Internet Access: 3.9% increase on all networks (real-terms no change)
  • This includes 100 Mbps up to 1 Gbps; 10 Gbps bearers are unaffected by the price rise.
• Hosting (UK data centres):  3.9% increase (real-terms no change)
  • This includes VPS servers
  • This includes SD-WAN (bonding) services
• Things (IoT): 3.9% increase (real-terms no change)

INCREASE: all other business customers

• VF FTTP: expected 5%* increase (real-terms 1.1% increase)
  • * Subject to negotiation: we may be able to lower this expected increase
• BT FTTP: 5% increase (real-terms 1.1% increase)
• BT FTTPoD: 5% increase increase (real-terms 1.1% increase)
  
• H3 mobile: 5% increase increase (real-terms 1.1% increase)
  • This includes SMS, Voice and Data-only (MBB) SIMs  ("3")
• VMO2 mobile: 7.5% increase (real-terms 3.6% increase)
  
  • This includes SMS, Voice and Data-only (MBB) SIMs  ("O2") 
• VF mobile: 7.5% increase (real-terms 3.6% increase)
  • This includes SMS, Voice and Data-only (MBB) SIMs ("Vodafone")
• EE mobile (billed by us, not "EE Direct"): 7.5% increase (real-terms 3.6% increase)
  • This includes SMS, Voice and Data-only (MBB) SIMs
• Cloud Voice: 5% increase (real-terms 1.1% increase)
• Cloud Voice Go: 5% increase (real-terms 1.1% increase)
• SIP trunks: 5% increase (real-terms 1.1% increase)
• Not-digital-only Connectivity: 10% increase (real-terms 6.1% increase)
  • This includes ADSL, FTTC, ISDN, on any network
  • This excludes all FTTP and SoGEA unless specified above
  • Disconnection fee ("cease") remains at £35.59 (real-terms 3.9% decrease)
  • Connection fee (where engineer attends site) remains at £65.00; we will still apply our £50 subsidy towards these types of installations. (real-terms 3.9% decrease)

• PSTN phone lines: 10% increase (real-terms 6.1% increase)
  • This is to encourage adoption of digital voice (such as Cloud Voice) and digital-only connectivity such as FTTP, SoGEA and 5G as we near the 2025 cut-off for PSTN services: see https://internetservices.freshdesk.com/en/support/solutions/articles/5000874986-2025-copper-phone-line-switch-off

If you are affected by the above prices please reach out to your account manager to request a service review - it may be possible to modify tariffs or services to minimize the impact of the increases.

[END OF NOTIFICATION]