Also, broadband in the UK is not very expensive. 130 Mbps from Virgin Media is £26 a month with no set-up or rental fees. The £10 difference between the avg social tariff and what you can get on the high street is inconsequential in the context of the cost of living crisis. Heating is several hundred pounds each month for a typical apartment, food is another several hundred for a couple of people, unless they eat very low quality food, and renting a room is another several hundred in most cities, can go up to a £1.5k in London. If you have a family, you probably won't feel right living in a room, so your housing expenses will be much higher.
I mean... there is value in jumping through some hoops to save £10 a month. But it's not really anything to write home about. I can understand why people would rather save £25 and cancel if they struggle to make ends meet and don't use broadband besides what they can get on their phone + hotspot. Or share a WiFi password between rooms/flats.
They aren't "significant poverty-related benefits", a lot of the benefits that make you eligible are in-work benefits or from having children. That is why most people don't claim, most of these people have jobs and have no problem paying another £10/month and don't want to go through the admin (or restrictions, I think some of the plans have restrictions).
You are bang on about property costs. You notice how instant action has been taken by regulators to blame telecoms companies. Where is the action on planning regulations? Trying to reduce bills through this route really makes no sense.
Yes, I oversimplified the significant poverty-related benefits part.
Also, when I said “significant”, I meant “not insubstantial”. I don’t mean benefits for those severely affected by poverty. And “poverty-related” to my mind includes “poverty-reducing”.
Probably it could have been phrased better seeing that it wasn’t clear what I wanted to say.
> These were available in 99% of the UK and started from £10 per month, it added.
This language sounds a bit more like advertisement than what I'd expect from a national regulator.
Also, almost of the social tariff plans (plans for people receiving significant poverty-related benefits in the UK) are at £10 per month - https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice....
Also, broadband in the UK is not very expensive. 130 Mbps from Virgin Media is £26 a month with no set-up or rental fees. The £10 difference between the avg social tariff and what you can get on the high street is inconsequential in the context of the cost of living crisis. Heating is several hundred pounds each month for a typical apartment, food is another several hundred for a couple of people, unless they eat very low quality food, and renting a room is another several hundred in most cities, can go up to a £1.5k in London. If you have a family, you probably won't feel right living in a room, so your housing expenses will be much higher.
I mean... there is value in jumping through some hoops to save £10 a month. But it's not really anything to write home about. I can understand why people would rather save £25 and cancel if they struggle to make ends meet and don't use broadband besides what they can get on their phone + hotspot. Or share a WiFi password between rooms/flats.