Post Office freezes broadband and home phone prices until October 2013

The Post Office has pledged to freeze its home phone and broadband costs until October 2013.

This announcement comes as other providers like BT plan price hikes for the New Year. Read BT to raise prices by up to 5.9% for more details.

Safe bet

The Post Office already provides great value deals on home phone packages.

For example, the Post Office Home Phone Evening & Weekend package is 25% cheaper than BT’s Unlimited Evening & Weekend plan.

Currently BT’s package costs £17.75 a month while the Post Office only charges £13.25. And from the 5th of January 2013, BT’s package will cost £18.25 - when the price rises take effect.

That said, Primus offers an even cheaper deal than the Post Office.

But broadband falls short

Although the Post Office offers competitive landline and calls only packages its broadband bundles are less desirable.

On the Post Office Home Phone with Broadband Standard pack you pay £21.40 a month and get 5GB usage, a free modem, inclusive evening and weekend calls as well as weekend calls to UK mobiles. But you only receive speeds of up to eight Megabits per second.

This seems a bit slow compared to similarly priced and even cheaper packages elsewhere that offer speeds of 14Mb upwards.

The Talk Talk Unlimited Broadband & Phone Essential package, for example, comes with unlimited usage, evening and weekend calls plus speeds of up to 14Mb for a monthly cost of £17.75. That said, Talk Talk isn’t known for its great customer service. Read TalkTalk tops Ofcom broadband complaints list - again to find out more. 

Shop around

As costs creep up it is best to shop around and see if you’re on the best deal. But make sure you check how long you have left on your contract before making any changes.

How the Post Office compares

Here is a table looking at home phone only deals available at the moment. For the latest broadband and home phone offers take a look at this article Tesco Mobile offers free broadband for a year. Alternatively, check out Broadband Choices for a round-up.

More stories on household bills:

The best and worst energy bills

Eight ways to cut your vet bills

Ten ways to save on energy

The best mobile phone and broadband reward schemes

Orange announces landline telephone price rises