Virgin Media ‘M’ home phone customers face price hike

From 1st November, Virgin Media ‘M’ customers could see their phone bills rise by up to £20 a year, according to independent price comparison and switching service, uSwitch.com. While Virgin Media has not disclosed how many customers will be affected, uSwitch.com estimates that a minimum of 400,000 customers will be hit, bringing in at least £8 million in additional revenue for the company. Customers on the tariff will be paying up to £122 a year more than those on rival phone provider Primus.

The price hikes form part of a major pricing restructure designed to encourage more of Virgin Media’s four million home phone customers onto a fixed-price ‘all-inclusive’ package such as the ‘L’ or ‘XL’ tariff. Customers already on these deals will enjoy savings of up to £24 a year from November: customers on the Talk Unlimited plan will pay £7.95 instead of £9.95 a month, and customers on the Talk Evening and Weekends plan will pay £3.45 instead of £3.95 a month.

However, those customers preferring to pay purely for the calls they make, rather than commit themselves to a fixed monthly package, will be hit hard by the new pricing policy. uSwitch.com estimates that at least 10% of Virgin’s home phone customers – some 400,000 - are on the company’s ‘M’ Talk Weekends tariff. This consists of line rental and free calls to UK landlines at the weekend. All weekday calls, as well as any calls to mobile, international, or premium rate phone numbers over the weekend are charged as they are made. The average customer on this plan currently pays an estimated £13 a month for calls, but as of the 1st November will pay nearly £15 – a 13% increase.

Regardless of tariff, all home phone customers will be affected with higher rates on calls to international, 0845 and mobile numbers. Those making calls to mobile phones will be hardest hit. uSwitch.com calculates that the cost of calling some mobile networks from a Virgin landline over the weekend could increase by as much as 158%. The average weekend call to a mobile currently costs 33p but is set to rocket to 85p from November.

Steve Weller, Head of Communications Services at uSwitch.com comments: “Virgin Media is fighting hard to remain competitive in the TV and broadband arena, but once again it’s the loyal home phone customers who have to bear the brunt by paying more for a service which hasn’t changed. Not everyone wants to commit to a fixed plan for phone calls every month, but with the ‘M’ tariff now up to £122 more expensive than rival deals, customers will have to accept these charges or switch to another provider.

“We advise all Virgin Media customers to take a closer look at their next phone bill. If the majority of calls made are to other landlines and total over £3, it could be worth switching to either the Talk Evenings and Weekends (L) or Talk Unlimited (XL) plan. If, on the other hand, most calls are made to mobiles and national rate numbers, it would be worth shopping around to find a better deal elsewhere. 44 million consumers still rely on a landline to make calls at home and simply switching provider could save each household up to £200 a year.”