Business Mobile Price Rises 2026: What EE, O2, Vodafone and Three Charged - and What April 2027 Will Cost

Quick answer

UK business mobile prices went up between 31 March and 1 April 2026 on every major network, but the amount depends far more on when you signed than on which network you are with. Older contracts still carry inflation-linked terms and rose by 7.3% on EE and Vodafone (CPI 3.4% plus 3.9%), 7.7% on O2 (RPI 3.8% plus 3.9%) and 7.3% or 4.5% on Three depending on start date. Newer contracts rose by a fixed amount stated when you signed: £3.00 or £1.50 on EE, £1.50 on O2, £2.08 or £3.00 on Vodafone, and 50p to £1.50 on Three, all per line per month excluding VAT. The next round lands in April 2027, and with the Bank of England expecting inflation around 3.75% at the end of 2026, anyone still on a CPI-plus-3.9% contract should budget for roughly another 7.5%.

Why the amounts are so different

For about a decade, every UK network wrote the same clause into business mobile contracts: the monthly price goes up each spring by an inflation index plus 3.9%. Ofcom banned that model for new contracts with consumers, small businesses (ten employees or fewer) and charities from 17 January 2025, requiring any in-contract rise to be stated in pounds and pence at the point of sale instead. We explain the mechanics in our guide to RPI and CPI on business mobile contracts.

The networks did not wait for the deadline, and they did not all move at once. EE switched its small-business plans to fixed amounts from 2 September 2024, Vodafone from 2 July 2024, Three from 8 September 2024 and O2 from 9 January 2025. Every contract signed or upgraded before those dates keeps the old inflation-linked clause until it is re-signed. That is why two businesses on the same network, on the same tariff, can see rises of £1.50 and £3.50 a line in the same month.

Network by network: what was applied in spring 2026

All figures below are per line per month, excluding VAT, taken from each network's published business terms. Add 20% for the VAT-inclusive figure.

EE Business (increase applied 31 March 2026)

Add-ons and out-of-bundle charges on fixed-amount contracts rose by 5%. EE applies its increase on 31 March, a day earlier than the others, so it appears on the March bill for some customers. See our EE business mobile plans guide for the current tariffs.

O2 Business (applied on the April 2026 bill)

O2 is the only major network still using RPI rather than CPI, and it uses the January figure published in February rather than December's. RPI generally runs higher than CPI, which is why O2's legacy rise was the largest this year. Details of the plans are in our O2 business mobile plans guide.

Vodafone Business (applied 1 April 2026)

Out-of-bundle charges, add-ons and extras on fixed-amount contracts still rose by CPI plus 3.9%, so 7.3%. Because Vodafone bills a month in advance, the March 2026 invoice showed a pro-rated amount before the full increase appeared from April. Our Vodafone business mobile plans guide covers the tariffs, and the Vodafone-Three merger article explains why the two networks' policies are converging.

Three Business (applied from your April 2026 bill date)

Three's banding means its cheapest SIM-only plans have the smallest cash rise of any network, but its Adapt and Dynamic pooled plans still carry a percentage increase.

What it actually cost: worked examples

Take a typical £30-a-month business line (excluding VAT). Here is what the April 2026 rise added, by regime:

Two things stand out. First, on a £30 line the £3.00 fixed rises from EE and Vodafone are actually more than the inflation-linked rise this year; the fixed model only protects you when inflation is high. Second, the percentage regimes look worse on higher-value plans and the fixed regimes look worse on cheaper ones. A £3.00 rise on a £15 EE SIM-only plan is a 20% increase, which is why it pays to read the number in your pre-contract summary rather than assume "pounds and pence" means "small".

For a full picture of where the rest of your money goes, see understanding your business mobile bill.

The compounding problem on legacy contracts

The real cost of an inflation-linked clause is what it does over a full term. A 36-month business contract signed in March 2024 at £30 a line on CPI plus 3.9% has now been through three rises:

That is a 23% increase on a price the business thought it had fixed, and on 20 lines it is £1,668 a year more than the contract was quoted at. The same line on a £1.50 fixed clause would be at £34.50 today; on £3.00 it would be £39.00. Contracts signed a year earlier were hit harder still: the April 2023 rise, based on December 2022's 10.5% CPI, was 14.4%.

What to expect in April 2027

Networks fix the next rise in January (December CPI, published around 20 January) or February (January RPI, used by O2). Nobody knows those figures yet, but the signals are not encouraging for anyone on a legacy clause:

• CPI was 3.1% in August 2026, up from 2.9% in July, driven mainly by energy prices.
• The Bank of England's September 2026 assessment expects CPI to reach around 3.75% in the final quarter of 2026 and slightly above 4% in early 2027. Market economists' median forecast is lower at 3.3%.
• On that basis, a CPI-plus-3.9% contract faces a rise of roughly 7.2% to 7.7% in April 2027, and an O2 RPI-plus-3.9% contract something similar or slightly higher.

Fixed-amount contracts are unaffected by any of this: the number in your contract is the number. The only movement to watch is on new contracts, where the networks have increased the fixed amounts twice since 2024 (EE from £1.50 to £3.00 on handsets; Vodafone from £1.50 to £2.08 or £3.00). Signing before the next uplift, if you are due to re-sign anyway, locks in the current amount for the whole term.

What to do about it

1. Find out which regime each line is on. Your start or upgrade date is on the original order form, and the networks publish the date bands above. On a mixed estate you will almost certainly find lines on two or three different rules.
2. Cost the legacy lines. Anything still on CPI or RPI plus 3.9% has risen more than 20% since 2024 and is about to rise 7% or more again. If those lines are out of their minimum term, or close to it, re-signing to a fixed-amount plan or switching network removes the exposure immediately. Our guide to switching business mobile provider covers the process.
3. Check the fixed amount before you sign anything new. It must be in the pre-contract information for small business customers. £1.50 and £3.00 are both "pounds and pence"; over 36 months on 20 lines the difference is £1,080.
4. Ask about the exclusions. Out-of-bundle, add-ons and roaming passes typically still rise by CPI plus 3.9% or 5%. If your team travels or regularly bursts allowances, that matters.
5. Consider a no-increase deal. Some business tariffs sold through resellers carry no in-contract rise at all. They can cost slightly more up front and still win over the term; see how to avoid business mobile price rises.
6. Know your rights if a rise is not in the contract. If your network raises the price by more than your contract states, or your contract does not specify an amount, you are entitled to 30 days' notice and a penalty-free exit. Our can you cancel after a price rise guide walks through it.

We review business mobile estates for exactly this. If you send us a recent bill we will tell you which lines are on which regime, what April 2027 is likely to cost, and what a fixed-price alternative looks like. Request a business mobile quote or arrange a callback.

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