Virgin Media ups broadband price

Virgin Media has announced that it is increasing the price of its broadband package.

The service provider is also upping some call charges by 12%, and altering its time slot for free calls just months after it pledged to double customers' internet speeds at no additional cost.

Subscribers to the broadband (large) package are expected to incur an average price increase of more than £25 per year. Large Broadband purchased without line rental is also increasing by £1.50 a month to £22.50, The Guardian reports.

Virgin Media, which was hit by a UK-wide service outage this month, has also shifted its daytime call period from 6pm to 7pm, so calls that fall between 6pm and 7pm will no longer be free. The move brings the cable giant's service in line with competitors such as BT.

"As part of our ongoing review of services, we're making some changes to our cable pricing from April. On average, customers will see an increase of around £2.68 per month," said a Virgin spokesperson in a statement.

"However as part of our review, we've also managed to provide some customer savings and frozen prices such as our phone line rental. We will be proactively contacting existing customers in the coming weeks to make sure that they are on the best value package for them."

BT, Sky TalkTalk, O2, Vodafone, and Orange have all introduced price rises in recent months, during a period where average UK income has seen little to no increase.

Virgin Media will implement the pricing change in April.

> UK average broadband speeds up 22%, finds Ofcom