For action: Please review and respond
Of interest to: All FCS members who provide communication services to consumers and small businesses
On 25 November, the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology wrote to Ofcom requesting that Ofcom produce an interim review of the impact of recent changes to price transparency. You can read the full letter here: Telecoms pricing and transparency: letter from Chancellor and BIST Secretary of State to Ofcom
The changes referred to are the ones introduced in January 2025, which prohibited RPI+ in-contract price rises and required that any in-contract price rises for consumer and small business/micro-enterprise customers had to be shown clearly in pounds and pence before the contract was signed.
We know that this change has been difficult for resellers and smaller CPs as the regulation only applies to retail contracts and wholesale contracts continue to have RPI increases. The significant increases Openreach recently announced to PSTN/ISDN has highlighted the difficulty for resellers and smaller CPs. We have been clear that we believe that there should be a better way of ensuring that the risk is shared throughout the complex supply chain.
The FCS wants to proactively raise our concerns with Ofcom and welcomes member input. Our arguments are always stronger if we have member input, so please get in touch and tell us how the introduction of these changes have affected you. Specifically, it would be good to know:
- Whether you have made any changes to your contracts/approach because of the requirement to display any price changes in pounds and pence
- Whether you have withdrawn any services or changed contract duration
- Whether you believe the changes have helped customers in any way
- Whether there have been any changes in wholesale behaviour
- Any comments you have or options you think Ofcom should consider that could help resellers/smaller CPs
Separately, the Chancellor and Secretary of State have asked that Ofcom review the suitability of the current 30-day notice period rule. Specifically, whether the current rule sufficiently enables consumers to exit their contracts at the point when a price increase takes effect unexpectedly. This has been triggered by O2s recent price rises, which meant that customers could leave a contract early without any termination costs. Again, we would welcome any views on this aspect.
Please provide any comments by 15 Jan 2026 and let me know if you have any questions.