What’s happening?
From 31 March 2023 as set out in your terms, the prices of selected add-ons and/or selected out-of-bundle charges are going up by 14.4%. This increase is in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) % rate of inflation published on 18 January 2023, 10.5% - plus an additional 3.9%.
You'll find details of any active add-ons on your latest bill or you can log into your My EE account
To give you an idea of what this means here are some of our popular added services that have been included in this year’s price increase (prices don’t include VAT).
| Category | Product | Current price | Price increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add-On service | Business Daily Passport | £6.85 monthly | £0.98 |
| Add-On service | 500 Minutes to call USA and Canada from UK | £5.70 monthly | £0.82 |
| Out of Bundle Event | Calling from Spain to the UK | 52p per minute | £0.07 |
| Out of Bundle Event | Calling from UK to USA | £1.90 per minute | £0.27 |
| Out of Bundle Event | Sending a text message from UK to France | 34p | £0.04 |
| Out of Bundle Event | Sending a text message from Australia to UK | 74p | £0.10 |
See https://business.ee.co.uk/outofbundlecharges/ for information on selected out-of-bundle and selected add-ons charges, including details of the price increase
Why are you putting prices up?
Whether or not you have joined EE on your first contract, or last upgraded on or after 1 September 2020, or if we’ve told you that we are moving you to new terms, EE reserve the right to increase the prices of selected add-ons and selected out of bundle charges every year as set out in your terms section 7.6. We do this on or just after 31 March every year using the CPI % Inflation rate figure published in January that year, plus an additional 3.9%.
Your network terms also allow us to put up other charges - see Section 7.2.
You can check your network terms here under:
- Small Business terms for our latest network terms or under Legacy terms (including Orange and T-Mobile), for all other previous network terms.
While we recognise that no one likes to see their prices go up, we want to continue to improve our network, products and services for our customers and simplify our packages
As the UK continues to embrace digital technologies, the demand for the connectivity & services that we provide is always rising. In order to maintain the quality of our network for our customers we are continually investing in it, which is a very capital-intensive activity.
As with all businesses, inflation drives up the cost to run EE every year. That is why we believe that the use of the Consumer Price Index (the official inflation measure in the UK economy) as a baseline to calculate our annual price rise is fair and will let us continue to offer both excellent service and a range of products to our customers, whilst investing in the services we are able to offer our customers.
While we recognise that no one likes to see their prices go up, we want to continue to improve our network, products and services for our customers and simplify our packages
What is the Consumer Price Index?
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a figure published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as a measure of inflation. It is a reliable measure to reflect the increase in the costs to run and invest in the network and services we provide.
CPI is a measure of whether the cost of goods and services is going up or down based on average price changes from across several industries and measures inflation by taking a basket of goods (e.g., food, clothes, petrol etc.) looking at what they cost last year, looking at what they cost now, and finding the difference
However, CPI leaves the costs of your home out of the basket (e.g., rises in mortgage payments, rents, and council tax) so they don’t get reflected in it. A new index is published every month.
A new CPI inflation rate is published by the ONS every month
Find out more about CPI from the Office of National Statistics
What CPI % inflation rate will we be using?
The CPI % inflation rate figure we’ll use is the December % inflation rate figure published by the ONS in January of each year, which measures the average change in prices for consumers across the country, over the last 12 months. We’ll adjust monthly charges by this amount, plus an additional 3.9%, on or after 31 March of the same year.
What is CPI plus 3.9%?
CPI+3.9% is the CPI % inflation rate figure plus 3.9%.
A new % inflation rate is published by the ONS every month. We’re using the December 2022 % inflation rate figure published in January 2023.
CPI plus 3.9% applies to customers who joined EE, last upgraded on or after 1 September 2020, or if we’ve told you that we are moving you to our new terms.
Why do you add 3.9% to the underlying CPI % inflation rate?
As the UK continues to embrace digital technologies, the demand for the connectivity & services that we provide is always rising. In order to maintain the quality of our network for our customers we are continually investing in it, which is a very capital-intensive activity.
The CPI element of our annual price increases enables us to continue to run our network in light of cost & wage inflation, whereas the 3.9% enables our continual investment in the UK’s digital future, the improvement of customer service and propositions and will enable us to increase social inclusion through widening our network footprint.
If the CPI % inflation rate is negative does this mean you will decrease pricing?
No, we will take the CPI % inflation rate to be 0%, so the price increase will be 3.9%
How do you work out the increase?
For selected add-on and selected out-of-bundle charges we use the CPI % inflation rate figure, plus an additional 3.9%.
As an example, this would mean for a monthly price of £40, if we used a CPI % inflation rate figure from December 2022 of 2.0% and then add 3.9% (e.g., 2.0% + 3.9% = 5.9%). The monthly price would go up by £2.36 on 31 March 2023.
If the CPI % inflation rate figure is negative in the relevant year, we will only increase monthly charges by 3.9%.
What is an add-on?
An add-on is a package of minutes, messages, data or services you can buy. Some of our mobile add-ons will be increasing in line with the CPI rate of inflation, plus 3.9%.
You can find details of any active add-ons you may have on your latest EE bill or on MyEE.
What is an out-of-bundle charge?
As part of your price plan, you'll get a call, text and data allowance. There are restrictions on where and how you use these, for example calls will be restricted to UK mobile networks and UK landlines starting with 01, 02 and 03.
When you go over these limits, you'll be charged according to our standard rates. These are also known as out-of-bundle charges, such as calling to and from abroad. Some of these will be increasing by the CPI rate of inflation, plus 3.9%.
There is information about selected out-of-bundle and most popular add-ons charges including details of the price increase at business.ee.co.uk/outofbundlecharges/.
Can I cancel my contract?
Yes, but if If you cancel before the end of your price plan’s minimum term, you’ll need to pay a termination charge for cancelling early.
If you’re out of contract, you’re free to end your service without having to pay any termination charges, but you’ll need to give us 30 days’ notice.
If you move to another provider and your switch date falls within the notice period, we won’t charge you after the switch takes place, but bear in mind there may be other outstanding charges.
We really hope you’ll stay though. Give us a call on 0800 956 5046 to chat about your options.
- Consumer Price Index changes 2023 - If your monthly plan(s) are increasing in line with the Consumer Price Index inflation rate % figure, plus an additional 3.9%
- Price changes 2023 - See details on what the 2023 price changes mean for you