Affordability of Communications Services April 2023 – Ofcom
Ensuring people can access affordable fixed and mobile broadband remains a priority for Ofcom.
Increases in energy, food, and other consumer goods prices have continued to exacerbate cost-of-living concerns and place a strain on UK households. Several broadband and mobile providers have also recently implemented significant above inflation price increases for in-contract customers.
Between July 2022 to January 2023, our Communications Affordability Tracker found that around three in ten households had difficulty affording their communications services in the last month. This has remained at a similar level to the research findings in our September 2022 report.
Ofcom has called on communications providers to offer and promote social tariffs. Social tariffs can
help ensure that fixed and mobile internet services remain affordable for customers on low or no
income who struggle to pay their bills. Ofcom does not have the power to introduce regulated social
tariffs without being directed to do so by the UK Government. However, providers have responded
to our calls to offer social tariffs on a voluntary basis and the number available to customers has
continued to increase since our last report. Take-up of social tariffs also increased four-fold during
2022, but the latest figures still represent a relatively small proportion of all eligible customers.
- There has been an increasing trend in the number of households facing affordability issues
for their communications needs over the past two years. As of January 2023, three in ten
households (29%) were reporting difficulty in affording any communications services, which
is a similar level to that found in October 2022, and an increase from 15% in April 2021. The
latest numbers also showed that 6% of households with fixed broadband found it difficult to
afford this service, and 8% of households with a mobile found it difficult to afford this
service. - The availability of fixed broadband social tariffs has improved over the past 18 months,
with around 20 providers now offering a social tariff. Around 85% of fixed broadband
customers are now able to switch to a social tariff with their existing provider. We continue
to call on TalkTalk to follow the example of other providers by introducing a social tariff. - New mobile broadband social tariffs are becoming available. Since our September 2022
report, EE and SMARTY have launched mobile social tariffs in addition to the tariff offered by
VOXI. We continue to call on O2 to introduce a social tariff. - Take-up of social tariffs has increased to around 220,000 households in February 2023, a
four-fold increase from around 55,000 in January 2022. The proportion of eligible
households that have taken-up a social tariff has also increased (to 5.1% from 1.2%). - Awareness of social tariffs has also improved among eligible customers (to 47% from 16%
in January 2022). Most people are hearing about social tariffs for the first time via social
media (26%) and television (21%). - Those who take up a fixed broadband social tariff could make a significant saving to help
alleviate affordability concerns. Our analysis indicates that, on average, an eligible
household could save around £202 per year by switching to a fixed broadband social tariff. - Most providers have confirmed that they have no current plans to increase the price of
their social tariff for new customers whilst some others have committed to maintaining
the price of their social tariff. This is in addition to the other protections we have already
secured from providers, including no mid-contract price rises for social tariffs. - Awareness and take-up of social tariffs remains a challenge. Over half of eligible
households remain unaware of social tariffs and the overall proportion that have taken-up a
social tariff remains relatively low. Providers should take steps to improve awareness of
social tariffs and the information available about them, particularly among those most likely
to be facing affordability issues. - Households with younger individuals and those in part-time work or not in work were
more likely to experience affordability problems and stand to benefit most from a social
tariff. We have conducted analysis of the characteristics of households that have shown to
be at greater risk of affordability issues and encourage providers to target awareness-raising
communications to these customers.
