The new rules follow a Which? campaign to provide more certainty about the total price of a contract. Networks must now clearly state in pounds and pence how much a contract will increase across its duration, allowing customers to make an informed choice of provider, and more easily compare different deals.
Which mobile networks are raising prices in 2025?
Our longstanding advice is to look beyond the largest networks to get the cheapest deals. This will continue to be true with the new rules as it’s the biggest networks that are continuing to use mid-contract price rises:
Customers have often been with these networks for many years, being hit with wave after wave of price increases. If this is your situation, it’s worth looking around to see if you can save money with a different network.
How will my mobile prices change in 2025?
If you're a customer of one of these providers, bear in mind that the new pounds and pence price increases apply to those who started a new contract after the date the new policy was introduced, as detailed in the table above.
If your contract started before these dates, you will instead receive the previous type of inflation-based price increase, using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate:
O2 customers should have all been migrated already, so will now be subject to the £1.80 price rise under the new rules.
Looking to cut your monthly costs? Read our .
Networks with the biggest price increases
While price increases from networks may seem fairly small, ranging from £1 to £1.80 a month for Sim-only contracts, the impact may vary quite a lot between customers.
Only Three and Tesco differentiate between contract cost, which means those on cheaper, low data contracts will face the same price rise as those on unlimited data deals. It's therefore important to weigh the contract cost carefully against alternatives, as low-data deals in particular can be found extremely cheaply on rival networks.
And if you're an EE customer on a bundled contract (where the phone and Sim cost are bundled together) you'll pay £4 extra under the new increases, compared to £1.50 for those on 'split' contracts, where these are priced separately.
Frustrated by your bills increasing? Changing your mobile provider is easier than ever. Find out more in our guide on .
Which networks promise not to increase prices?
The good news is that the mobile network market is as competitive as ever. There’s an array of smaller networks offering cheap deals and loads of data as they attempt to stand out, and many commit not raise their prices mid-contract:
Other providers don’t have price increases built into their contracts, but they also don’t have a price freeze as such. They will give you at least 30 days notice if prices are going up, and you can then switch to a different network without penalty:
Five questions to ask yourself before getting a new mobile contract
Before agreeing to a new contract, think about these questions to check you are getting what you need and not paying too much.
Can I haggle with my current network? How much data do I actually use? Where and how often will I be travelling? Do I need the latest flagship phone? Which network has the best signal in my area? News, deals and stuff the manuals don't tell you.source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/new-mobile-price-hikes-how-much-will-your-network-be-raising-prices-in-2025-awIty1h73YHu