Ofcom: Broadband prices drop 6%
February 26, 2026
According to Ofcom research, average broadband prices available in the UK fell in real terms in 2025, especially for faster services.
Across various different speeds, prices decreased by 6 per cent on average. In many cases, customers can switch to a faster, more reliable full-fibre broadband service and pay the same, or less, than they currently do for a copper or part-fibre service, the media watchdog advised. While some providers have contracts with a fixed price, many offer an initial price at the start of the contract before raising them. However, because overall prices have consistently fallen in real terms in recent years, people can keep their overall long-term spend flat, or even reduce it in real terms, if they sign up to a new contract at a lower price whenever their initial contract period ends.
Ofcom data indicates that 28 per cent of broadband customers are out of contract. On average, customers who are in contract spend between £7 and £9 a month less than out-of-contract customers. This difference narrowed significantly in 2025, but it’s still the case that most out-of-contract customers could save money. They could do this by simply talking to their current provider and signing up to a new deal with them, Ofcom noted.
People could also save by moving to a different provider, and more broadband customers are doing this since Ofcom made the process quicker and easier. in 2025, 18 per cent of households switched internet provider, up from 14 per cent in 2023. This increase follows the roll-out of new full-fibre broadband networks, and the introduction of a new One Touch Switch process in September 2024, which has been used by over 2 million customers.
Around eight in 10 UK homes now have access to faster, more reliable full-fibre broadband, following the deployment of new networks by Openreach, Virgin Media O2 and a wide range of new challenger firms, often referred to as ‘altnets’. This means people now have more choice.
Ofcom analysis suggests that pricing competition between established providers and newer ones has intensified over the past year. Altnets often offer lower prices than the established companies, to attract customers, and larger providers’ prices are falling closer to those offered by the new challenger firms.
Similar to broadband, the largest mobile operators’ main brands tend to be more expensive. Over the last four years, the lowest mobile prices have been offered either by mobile virtual network operators, which piggyback off the main mobile networks, or by the largest companies’ budget brands. In recent years, these brands have consistently offered deals that are between 40 per cent and 50 per cent cheaper than average prices.
Ofcom analysis found that most households who bundle their telecoms services together benefit from lower prices, compared to those who buy them separately, with savings ranging from £26 to £48 a month.
Pay-TV services, in particular, have become cheaper when taken as part of a bundle. When bundled with broadband and landline, the estimated average price when people take a contract for pay TV in a bundle fell by 23 per cent in real terms last year to £12 a month.
Responding to the Ofcom research, Alex Tofts, broadband expert at Broadband Genie, said: “The UK has excellent competition when it comes to shopping for a new broadband deal. On average, households can save £183.60 by switching to a new provider. If you use a trusted comparison service, look beyond the mainstream providers. Alternative networks (alnets) such as BeFibre, Lit Fibre and YouFibre typically offer faster download speeds at a lower monthly price, and they won’t increase prices mid-contract.
“We’re disappointed we’ll have to wait until 2027 for any changes to mid-contract price rises. Ofcom needs to wake up. Our analysis shows that bill payers are paying far beyond the rate of inflation due to the new regulations. These mid-contract price rises only create confusion and add further pressure to household budgets. The obvious solution is to ban them outright to protect customers,” added Tofts.
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