UK watchdog to examine whether telecoms companies mislead customers

Many of the UK’s telecoms companies raise prices annually linked to inflation, which is at a 40-year high. Photograph: Boumen Japet/Alamy

The UK advertising watchdog has launched an investigation into whether telecoms companies are misleading consumers about inflation-busting bill increases when promoting deals in their marketing campaigns.

Telecoms companies make billions of pounds annually by instituting price rises to mobile and broadband bills midway through contract periods – increases that will add to the biggest squeeze on the cost of living facing households in generations.