Mobile Phone and Broadband Prices

Baroness Lloyd of Effra Excerpts

Tuesday 9th December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sikka]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure price increases by mobile phone and broadband companies are fair.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business and Trade and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Baroness Lloyd of Effra) (Lab)]

It is important that customers feel empowered in engaging in the telecoms market, and confident that they are getting a fair deal. We support Ofcom in taking action to protect fairness and transparency, and welcome its recent steps to remind consumers of their rights. The Chancellor and Secretary of State have written to the CEO of Ofcom and the CEOs of major telecoms companies urging further, faster action to ensure that consumers are treated fairly.

[Lord Sikka (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her Answer. Phone and broadband companies such as O2 have violated Ofcom’s voluntary code and imposed unjustified mid-contract price hikes on customers. The old and vulnerable are hit hard, as they are less likely to shop around. Inflation and poverty are baked into the system. As reducing the cost of living is a government objective, will the Minister enact legislation to ban mid-contract price rises? Statutory rights are the only effective antidote to corporate abuse of power.

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

My noble friend is right to highlight the importance of the ability to have the right contract and of giving consumers the information they need. We have no plans to ban in-contract price rises, but consumers have the right to leave, penalty-free, for 30 days from when unexpected price rises are announced by a provider. The Chancellor and Secretary of State asked Ofcom to review the suitability of the current 30-day notice period, to ensure that it can be enacted by consumers who experience unexpected and unannounced mid-contract price rises.

[Lord Storey (LD)]

My Lords, given that many telecom contracts include mid-contract price rises linked to inflation plus an additional percentage, what steps are the Government taking to protect low-income customers from these above-inflation increases?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

The Chancellor and the Secretary of State have asked Ofcom to review the effectiveness of the changes that came in in January 2025, which set out that consumers must get the details in pounds and pence, so that they can have clarity. We have asked Ofcom to see how effective that is and a report will be coming in spring 2026, so that we can be assured that the measures are indeed effective.

[Lord Vaizey of Didcot (Con)]

My Lords, I certainly do not support mid-contract price rises but, arguably, mobile prices in the UK are among the lowest in Europe, which to an extent affects mobile operators’ ability to invest in the world-class mobile infrastructure we need. On that note, can the Minister update us on the progress of the shared rural network, which will bring mobile coverage to so many areas of the country that do not yet have it?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

The noble Lord is right to stress the importance of investing in our digital infrastructure, both in the mobile network and, I would also say, in the fibre network through Project Gigabit. The shared rural network continues to operate this year, bringing more availability to areas that are not covered. Our mobile coverage is increasing year on year.

[Baroness Blower (Lab)]

My Lords, services such as NHS appointments, banking and even shopping, regrettably, have moved online. The typical cost of broadband is around £400 a year—assuming, of course, that people can afford to buy a phone or computer. A new class of social exclusion is therefore emerging. What assessment have the Government made of this new level of social exclusion and its consequences?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

Earlier this year, the Government published the Digital Inclusion Action Plan, which set out a number of the measures that we are taking, on top of the importance of the digital infrastructure being in place. They include measures on access to devices and the skills and confidence to enter the online world. There are social tariffs that consumers can use; they should contact their providers to make sure that, if they are eligible for them, they can take them up.

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness will be aware that the 5% hardest to reach in rural areas are being further disadvantaged by the taking out of landlines. Storm Arwen took all the landlines and mobile phones out over a large area of the north-east and north Yorkshire for nine days. People must be able safely to summon help in an emergency. That will not happen if these landlines are taken out.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

The resilience of our network is absolutely critical. A fibre network is more resilient to many shocks, so the move to fibre will provide more resilience in the future. It is very important that in this transition from the PSTN to the fibre network, vulnerable customers are supported and have the back-up they need in cases of power cuts, and so on. The transition from the PSTN to the other network has already taken place for a large number of consumers in this country and is well on track towards the final handover.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, can I bore the House again? Our regulators are some of the worst in the world and they are letting the public down. We are not holding them to account. Is it not about time that some of these individuals got sacked and replaced by people who will protect the public?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

There are very important roles for our regulators. There are also very important governance systems in place that govern how regulators work and how they are accountable to Parliament. I do not think there is any case at present to take the action my noble friend suggests.

[Viscount Camrose (Con)]

My Lords, in May, the Vodafone-Three merger was completed, reducing the number of mobile operators in the country from four to three. Building on the question from my noble friend Lord Vaizey, six months on from the merger, what is the Government’s assessment of its impact, first on consumer prices and secondly on investment in the infrastructure that improves both the digital economy and rural connectivity?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

As part of that merger, there was a commitment to invest £11 billion in infrastructure. That is a very important part of the continued rollout of our digital infrastructure, and it is monitored through Ofcom’s Connected Nations report, which is published regularly.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, with the growing emphasis and reliance on—and need for—mobile phones and broadband to undertake business and personal issues throughout the UK, and with problems regarding physical impediments in rural areas, will my noble friend the Minister have immediate discussions with her ministerial counterparts in the devolved Administrations to ensure that there is better connectivity with those broadband companies and the regulator, to ensure better access for all?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

It is very important that there is connectivity across all the nations, and geographic coverage targets do include all nations. Many of the programmes in place to support the commercial rollout prioritise those rural areas, including for example in Scotland, Northern Ireland and across the devolved nations, so that all people can benefit from increased connectivity.

[Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I urge the Minister to look at the experience of Northern Ireland because, under the confidence and supply agreement signed with the then Conservative Government, Northern Ireland has the best connectivity anywhere in the United Kingdom. That has shown what an enabler it has been for young people and businesses right across Northern Ireland.

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

That experience indeed shows that good connectivity can provide opportunities for young people to participate in the economy and society. It is our aspiration that all people should have those opportunities.

[Lord Vaux of Harrowden (CB)]

One of the big phone companies has started to charge extra to warn customers of fraud and spam calls. Does the Minister agree with me that part of the basic service of a mobile phone company should be to protect its customers and that it should not charge extra for doing that?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

The issue of fraud and telecoms is very important. My noble friend Lord Hanson of Flint recently launched a telecoms fraud charter to emphasise how important it is for all telecoms companies to take action on that.