Millions of mobile phone customers will see their bills jump up in just six weeks.
O2 and Virgin Mobile merged last year and now some pay-monthly customers face a price increase of as much as around £50. The price rises will come into force on April 1 but exactly by how much will depend on what network you are with, the type of contract you have and when you joined the network.
A Virgin Media O2 spokesperson told Birmingham Live: "We know that price increases are never welcome but, unlike other providers, we freeze the cost of device repayments and are only changing our airtime prices, meaning average bills will go up by an effective 10% or less than 10 pence per day.
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"This is below inflation and reflects the fantastic value we provide for connectivity that is used almost constantly. These changes occur as our own business costs rise and we invest heavily in our mobile network to keep pace with ever-increasing usage, roll out new technologies like 5G and deliver valuable services that matter to our customers."
Pay-monthly and sim-only users with mobiles, tablets and/or smart watches who took out a deal or upgraded from 25 March 2021 will see bills rise by a huge 17.3%. This is January's Retail Prices Index (RPI) figure plus 3.9%.
Anyone on an O2 Refresh plan, will not see a rise on the device part of their contract, so the overall increase will be less than this. Pay-monthly and Sim-only users with mobiles, tablets and/or smart watches who took out a deal or upgraded before 25 March 2021 will have bills hiked by 14%.
Similarly, if you're on a Virgin Mobile Freestyle plan, the device part of your contract won't rise either.
Pay as you go shoppers will see no change. All pay-monthly and Sim-only users (Virgin Mobile doesn't offer pay-as-you-go) will see a 17% rise.
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