Although still not commonly classified as an essential service, in practice most of us depend on good, uninterrupted internet access for our work and leisure pursuits.

This page provides and overview of the main UK broadband providers, summarises recent industry news, and gives some advice and tips, as well as sources for further support.

Contents of this page

Category index

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Providers database

There are two main networks delivering broadband infrastructure in the UK, Openreach (the BT network) and Virgin Media. In addition to this, there are a range of FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) providers who lay their own cables for high speed broadband, for example Hyperoptic and Community Fibre. These providers may have limited regional availability and may not appear on Price Comparison Sites.

You can switch easily between providers on the Openreach network, for example: BT, Sky, Talktalk, Plusnet and Vodafone. Switching between Openreach and Virgin Media, or another FTTP provider,  requires a visit from an engineer but is usually still a straight forward process.

There are around 150 broadband companies in the UK, we have listed the largest here

<aside> ☎️ Ofcom, the sector regulator, publishes an annual report on customer service levels

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0030/237639/comparing-customer-service-report-2022.pdf

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Broadband providers

My provider has put prices up. What can I do?

<aside> 💡 The largest broadband providers are expected to increase prices by the rate of inflation plus up to an additional 3.9% in March and April 2023

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Mid-contract inflationary price rises

Each year, lots of the biggest broadband providers raise prices by inflation plus up to 3.9%. If they told you about this when you signed up and you’re still in contract, unfortunately, you’re not able to cancel without paying a charge.

BT, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk and Vodafone are amongst the providers set to increase prices in March and April by the rate of inflation, taken as the CPI measure (Consumer Price Index) published in January 2023 plus an additional amount of up to 3.9%.

Virgin Media allow customers to leave penalty-free when they put prices up mid-contract as they do not specify increases in their T&Cs.

• **Mid-contract price hike caveats ***