WHAT THE CPI PLUS 3.9% 2023 PRICE CHANGES MEAN FOR YOU

What’s happening?

From 31 March 2023, as set out in your terms, we’re increasing the charge of your monthly price plan(s) by 14.4%. This increase is in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) % inflation rate published by the Office for National Statistics on 18 January 2023, at 10.5% - plus an additional 3.9%. 

You'll find details of any active add-ons on your latest bill or you can log in to your My EE account

From 31 March 2023, your bills will show a 14.4% increase on the price of your monthly plans. To give you an idea of what this means here are some of our popular plans and additional services (prices don’t include VAT).

See examples below

Product Current price per month Price increase per month
Most Popular SIMO deal £12 £1.73
Most Popular Handset deal £43 £6.19
Most Popular Mobile Broadband deal £30 £4.32
Most Popular Tablet deal £7 £1.01
Most Popular SIMO deal
Current price per month £12
Price increase per month £1.73
Most Popular Handset deal
Current price per month £43
Price increase per month £6.19
Most Popular Mobile Broadband deal
Current price per month £30
Price increase per month £4.32
Most Popular Tablet deal
Current price per month £7
Price increase per month £1.01

For details of our selected add-ons and selected out-of-bundle price increase please visit business.ee.co.uk/aochange23

You'll find details of any active add-ons on your latest bill or you can log in to your My EE account

Why are you putting prices up?

We increase the charge for your price plan every year as mentioned in Section 7.6 of your network terms. 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 business network terms or under ‘Legacy network 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.

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 plus 3.9% is the CPI % inflation rate figure plus 3.9%.

A new % inflation rate is published by the Office for National Statistics 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.

How do you work out the increase?

We use the CPI % inflation rate figure published in January, 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%.

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%

What happens if I upgrade?

When you decide to upgrade, you will be advised about the annual price increase impact to your price plan and other products at the point of the upgrade. All customers upgrading from now on will be subject to CPI+ 3.9% increase based on the latest terms. If you decide to revert to your previous price plan after you upgraded, your terms and conditions will remain as per the upgrade and your plan will still be subject to the annual CPI+ 3.9% increase.

What if I have a discount on my plan?

You’ll still receive any discounts you get. We apply the price increase to the net price of your plan after discounting. Log in to your My EE account to check your plan’s details.

I was expecting my price increase to be based on the Retail Price Index (RPI). Why is this not the case?

In October 2022 we wrote to all customers on legacy RPI contract terms to notify them that we would be moving their contract terms to CPI + 3.9% terms. As part of that notification we provided customers with the relevant information 

See details of the change of contract terms from RPI to CPI + 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 you cancel before the end of the minimum term of your price plan, you’ll need to pay a termination charge for cancelling early.

If you’re out of contract, you can end your service with no termination charges, but we’ll need 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.

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