Broadband

Virgin Media has cut the cost of its 'Essential' broadband tariff for households on universal credit, from £15 a month to £12.50 a month – making it the cheapest social tariff on the market. The price drop is effective immediately for both new and existing customers. The provider has also launched a new faster plan, available from today (10 November), which costs £20 a month.

Almost eight million people in the UK are currently struggling to pay their bills, according to the financial regulator. If you are facing financial difficulty, we explain how to check if you're eligible for support and how to try and cut costs and save on essential bills. 

Sky has launched a new service that allows subscribers to access Sky TV, plus Netflix and other channels, without the need for a satellite dish. 'Sky Stream' is available from today (18 October). Below we detail how it works and how it compares with other Sky products, Freeview, and Netflix.

Millions of households on low incomes are missing out on average savings of almost £150 a year on their broadband bills, according to Ofcom. The industry regulator has called on providers to better advertise discounted deals for those on benefits – see a full list of available tariffs below.

Shell Energy broadband customers who joined the provider or renewed their contract before this year will see their prices hiked from 1 September. All home phone users will also see the cost of calls made outside of their package rise - but some will be able to leave penalty-free as a result.

The UK's biggest broadband and mobile providers – BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Three, Virgin Media O2, and Vodafone – have agreed to a set of measures aimed at ensuring customers struggling to pay their bills during the cost of living crisis don't get cut off from essential services.

Mobile and broadband customers should find it easier to cancel penalty-free if their provider makes detrimental mid-contract changes that were not agreed to when they first signed up to the plan. 

Plusnet and John Lewis broadband customers will be automatically compensated for delayed repairs and loss of service. Plusnet, which also runs the broadband service for John Lewis, has joined nine other companies that are part of the regulator's automatic compensation scheme. 

Millions of households on low incomes are missing out on average savings of almost £150 a year on their broadband bills, according to Ofcom. The industry regulator has called on providers to better advertise discounted deals for those on benefits - see a full list of available tariffs below.  

Millions of BT, EE, Plusnet, Shell, TalkTalk and Vodafone customers will be hit with price hikes of up to 9.3% this spring on the back of a sharp increase in the cost of living. For many, this year's hikes are more than double last year's. We've full info and a handy table below on what's happening and who's affected.