Broadband is now widely regarded as a utility, on par with water and gas and is the only one with (largely) fixed cost. No wonder therefore that broadband providers are using clever tricks to make you believe that they are cheaper than the competition.
Research carried out by Broadband Genie revealed that first year broadband costs in the UK have dropped significantly over the last few years even when above-inflation increases were accounted for.
ISPs have been found to reduce the length of the contracts to 12 months and increasing the bills in the second year.
Bill shock
In some cases, bills were more than quadrupled compared in the second year, as broadband providers secretly expect the majority of customers to stick with them for more than a year as contracts automatically renew from month 13 onwards.
On average, households sticking with their internet service providers for more than a year can expect to pay £118 more compared to their first year, with the saving potential across the country in the hundreds of millions of pounds.
It is now easier to switch than ever before though. Consumers switching within BT's Openreach network (everyone except Virgin Media) now only need to contact their new provider to switch their broadband.
