TalkTalk will be increasing the cost of both its line rental and the TalkTalk Plus package in January 2013.
The cost of line rental will climb from £14.50/month to £14.95/month (up by 45p) for customers who don’t take out the Value Line Rental option.
TalkTalk Value Line Rental sees you paying a bigger lump sum up front – £114 – which works out at the equivalent of £9.50/month. This is the same price as it is right now, so while TalkTalk’s basic rate of line rental is going up, it’s also effectively frozen its value price.
The TalkTalk Plus package, which includes TalkTalk TV will increase by £1, from £14.50/month to £15.50/month.
Several legacy phone packages including Talk UK Weekend and Talk International Anytime will also be going up by an extra £1/month next year. The new prices will come into effect from the 1st of January 2013.
TalkTalk customers will be given 30 days notice from when they can leave their line rental contract with TalkTalk if they’re unhappy with the deal.
Despite the unwelcome rise in prices, TalkTalk, which is investing heavily in future network provision, described the changes as “necessary,” pointing out that TalkTalk Plus, TalkTalk TV with the Value Line Rental works out at £25/month – still cheaper than the basic broadband, anytime calls and TV offerings from Sky, BT and Virgin Media:
“TalkTalk Plus TV with Value Line Rental costs £25 per month and includes a free YouView set top box, fast broadband with unlimited downloads and unlimited anytime calls to UK landlines. Comparable packages cost £49.95 from Virgin Media, £46.95 from BT and £43.95 from Sky, so over 18 months TalkTalk customers can save upwards of £300 on the cost of their phone, broadband and TV packages,” the spokesperson explained.
Earlier this year BT announced that it would be putting line rental prices up in January. Sky has also announced price increases due to kick in this December.
Last week, Ofcom announced a consultation on plans to prevent ISPs from raising prices without duly informing customers.
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