{"id":140423,"date":"2025-05-29T03:55:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T03:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/140423\/"},"modified":"2025-05-29T03:55:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T03:55:09","slug":"switch-from-bt-sky-or-ee-broadband-and-unlock-free-internet-bills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/140423\/","title":{"rendered":"Switch from BT, Sky or EE broadband and unlock FREE internet bills"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">Last month, the UK&#8217;s biggest broadband providers <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gbnews.com\/tech\/broadband-bt-sky-virgin-media-talktalk-price-rise\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">increased monthly bills for millions of customers<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p>Brands like BT, EE, Sky, Vodafone, Virgin Media, Plusnet, and others all hiked costs between <strong>\u00a32 &#8211; \u00a33.50 extra<\/strong> or raise subscriptions between <strong>4.5 &#8211; 7.5%<\/strong>. The exact price rise that applies to your broadband bills will depend on the supplier and the date you signed up. We&#8217;ve got a comprehensive rundown of the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gbnews.com\/tech\/broadband-bt-sky-virgin-media-talktalk-price-rise\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">exact price rise coming to BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Plusnet, and EE broadband customers<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p>But there&#8217;s a chance that you \u2014 and millions of others \u2014 do not have to put up with these latest price hikes. <\/p>\n<p>According to figures from Ofcom, some 7.4 million UK households are currently out of contract and could switch to a new subscription with no repercussions. Broadband suppliers regularly keep their best deals for new subscribers, with loyalty from existing subscribers rarely rewarded. <\/p>\n<p>Openreach maintains a vast underground network of broadband cables that connects 99% of all UK homes. These fibre-optic cables are used by more than 650 individual brands, including the likes of Sky, BT, Vodafone, TalkTalk, EE, Plusnet, and others. If you&#8217;re with any of these providers, you can switch to another Openreach-powered supplier and enjoy the same top speeds. <\/p>\n<p>Engineers won&#8217;t even need to visit to drill a hole to fit the cable to your new Wi-Fi router.<\/p>\n<p>Virgin Media O2 operates the second-biggest network across the UK, with roughly 60% of all premises able to connect to the internet via its cables. Smaller full-fibre providers \u2014 known as alt-nets \u2014 operate their own localised networks distinct from Openreach and Virgin Media O2. These are becoming <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gbnews.com\/tech\/bt-openreach-broadband-cancel\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">increasingly popular with Britons looking for fast broadband speeds at an affordable price<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;ve been hit with the latest round of broadband price hikes and want to switch to something new, we&#8217;ve rounded up some of the latest discounts and deals for new customers. If you&#8217;re outside of the mimum contract term for your existing agreement, it&#8217;s worth moving over to a new brand.<\/p>\n<p>Free Broadband <\/p>\n<p>Two of the most popular altnets in the UK \u2014 Hyperoptic and Gigaclear \u2014 are offering free broadband when you switch from your current supplier. The perk is designed to incentivise you to make the switch today &#8230;even if your current broadband contract hasn&#8217;t completely expired. <\/p>\n<p>Hyperoptic <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com?id=255228X1739307&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hyperoptic.com%2Fbroadband%2Fhome%2Fprice-plans%2Fswitchnow\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">will offer up to 9 months of free full-fibre broadband<\/a><\/strong> while your current contract ends. It summarises the offer like this: &#8220;Pick your speed and order any 24-month residential package with our Switch Now offer. You\u2019ll simply need to send us proof of your current broadband contract within 30 days of your service being activated.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>When your current contract does finish, &#8220;you\u2019ll have sorted your new broadband connection in advance, ready to switch fully to Hyperoptic&#8221;. Cancel the previous contract without incurring any early exit fees, and continue using the Hyperoptic connection you&#8217;ve already been enjoying in recent months. <\/p>\n<p>Since there&#8217;ll be a crossover with your existing broadband, you don&#8217;t need to worry about being disconnected and without internet at any point in the process! <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"b313b\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"f4f2f7062148d5a9e1009b14eed6cf09\" data-rm-shortcode-name=\"rebelmouse-image\" class=\"rm-shortcode rm-lazyloadable-image \" lazy-loadable=\"true\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 2882 1480'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-runner-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gigaclear-broadband-full-fibre.png\" width=\"2882\" height=\"1480\" alt=\"gigaclear broadband full-fibre\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Gigaclear doesn&#8217;t want you to wait until your existing broadband contract has expired&#8230; it&#8217;ll cover the costs of its full-fibre broadband for the next 12 months if you switch immediately <\/p>\n<p>GIGACLEAR | GBN <\/p>\n<p>Gigaclear is offering something very similar, but <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=255228X1739307&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fgigaclear.com%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">this little-known brand is willing to cover your broadband bills for 12 months<\/a><\/strong> while it waits for you to switch. <\/p>\n<p>It explains: &#8220;Get FREE full fibre for up to 12 months while you wait for your current contract to end. No hassle, no extra cost, just faster, more reliable full fibre broadband.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s an incredible offer, not to mention, one that you won&#8217;t find from any Openreach-powered brands.<\/p>\n<p>However, if you&#8217;re desperate to switch now \u2014 and you&#8217;re not living in an area supplied by Hyperoptic or Gigaclear, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/cread.php?awinmid=3516&amp;awinaffid=1519323&amp;campaign=&amp;clickref=&amp;ued=https%3A%2F%2Fee.co.uk%2Fbroadband%2Fswitch&amp;platform=pl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">EE will pay \u00a3300 towards any early cancellation fees<\/a><\/strong>. This should be enough to cover 10 months of remaining contract at \u00a330 per month, which is the average monthly broadband bill in the UK. <\/p>\n<p>Switch Broadband, Get Paid \u00a3100 To Spend On Anything You Want <\/p>\n<p>Plusnet wants to entice new switchers <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/cread.php?awinmid=2973&amp;awinaffid=1519323&amp;campaign=&amp;clickref=&amp;ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.plus.net%2Fbroadband&amp;platform=pl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">with the promise of up to \u00a3100 to spend on anything you want<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p>This takes the form of a pre-paid Mastercard debit card that can be used anywhere that accepts Mastercard&#8230; which is pretty much everywhere. <\/p>\n<p>You could use the free funds to treat yourself to a new gadget, put it towards a holiday, or even use the \u00a3100 in credit to pay the first three months of your new Plusnet broadband deal.<\/p>\n<p>Plsunet leverages Openreach&#8217;s full-fibre cables. If you&#8217;ve had a broadband contract with BT, TalkTalk, EE, Vodafone, or Sky, to name just a few, then you&#8217;ll be able to switch without any hassle.<\/p>\n<p>To <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/cread.php?awinmid=2973&amp;awinaffid=1519323&amp;campaign=&amp;clickref=&amp;ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.plus.net%2Fbroadband&amp;platform=pl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">unlock the maximum \u00a3100 Reward Card from Plusnet<\/a><\/strong>, you&#8217;ll need to sign up to its fastest full-fibre plan, Full Fibre 900, which unlocks eye-watering download speeds of 900Mbps, for <strong>\u00a337.99 a month<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p>For context, that&#8217;s over 11x faster than the average home internet speed as measured in the UK earlier this year \u2014 so you&#8217;ll have no problem downloading large files, streaming movies in the highest quality, or making stutter-free video calls at peak times.<\/p>\n<p>Switch to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/cread.php?awinmid=2973&amp;awinaffid=1519323&amp;campaign=&amp;clickref=&amp;ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.plus.net%2Fbroadband&amp;platform=pl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Full Fibre 500<\/a><\/strong>, which unlocks 500Mbps speeds, for \u00a332.99 a month and you&#8217;ll be rewarded with a \u00a375 Reward Card to treat yourself. The most affordable broadband plan from Plusnet that still unlocks a Reward Card is <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/cread.php?awinmid=2973&amp;awinaffid=1519323&amp;campaign=&amp;clickref=&amp;ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.plus.net%2Fbroadband&amp;platform=pl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Full Fibre 145<\/a><\/strong>, which offers 145Mbps downloads for \u00a327.99 a month, and earns you a \u00a350 pre-paid Mastercard.<\/p>\n<p>According to figures published by Ofcom, the average home broadband speed in the UK sits at roughly 73Mbps. If you upgrade to any of the 300Mbps full-fibre plans listed above, you&#8217;ll enjoy 4x faster download speeds \u2014 meaning you can stream high-quality video, back-up photos to the cloud, download software updates, and make video calls with friends and family anywhere in the world without any buffering.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"5e104\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"f1c2ae22b311ebbdb55c217fdc37009b\" data-rm-shortcode-name=\"rebelmouse-image\" class=\"rm-shortcode rm-lazyloadable-image \" lazy-loadable=\"true\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 2449 1632'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-runner-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/an-openreach-engineer-is-pictured-holding-a-fibre-optic-cable-at-one-of-thousands-of-exchanges-acros.jpeg\" width=\"2449\" height=\"1632\" alt=\"an openreach engineer is pictured holding a fibre optic cable at one of thousands of exchanges across the UK \"\/><\/p>\n<p>An Openreach engineer is pictured installing fibre-optic cables to an exchange location <\/p>\n<p>BT PRESS OFFICE <\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re unsure about what broadband speed you need in your home. We&#8217;ve put together the average download speeds for an hour-long television show episode in Standard Definition (SD), roughly 450MB in size.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>73Mbps, the average broadband speed in the UK: <strong>54 seconds<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>150Mbps, the lowest speed available with most full-fibre packages: <strong>24 seconds<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>500Mbps, widely available from all full-fibre providers: <strong>7 seconds<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>1Gbps (or 1,000Mbps) is not available from all broadband companies: <strong>4 seconds<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Under the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gbnews.com\/tech\/one-touch-switch-community-fibre-virgin-media\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">One Touch Switch system, which made its debut in September 2024<\/a><\/strong>, switching between any of the broadband brands listed above is much, much easier.<\/p>\n<p>Under this simplifed system, customers only need to contact their new provider, which will handle the entire switching process, including liaising with the existing provider.<\/p>\n<p>If that sounds familiar, it&#8217;s likely because the process of switching between broadband brands running on BT-owned Openreach cables has been like this for years, but it was moving between different full-fibre networks, from Openreach to Virgin Media for example, where customers would need to contact multiple customer service teams and organise the switchover date themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Bringing the same hassle-free switching that&#8217;s existed between Openreach-powered brands since 2013 should remove almost all fears about switching broadband providers \u2014 being left without a connection for weeks, evenings spent on the phone to arrange a date for an engineer appointment, paying two broadband bills because the cut-off date and start of your new contract didn&#8217;t line-up perfectly.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of the (long-delayed) launch of One Touch Switch, Ofcom released data that showed four in 10 people (41%) in the UK would decide against switching because of the headache of having to contact more than one provider. A similar number (43%) told the regulator they were put off switching because it seemed too time-consuming.<\/p>\n<p>And of those who had decided to switch, almost a quarter (24%) who reached out to their current provider faced unwanted attempts to persuade them to stay. Under the new system, you only need to sign-up to a broadband deal with the new provider, who will handle the switchover date and admin with your current internet supplier behind the scenes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last month, the UK&#8217;s biggest broadband providers increased monthly bills for millions of customers. Brands like BT, EE,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3161],"tags":[5784,643,3082,326,53,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-140423","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-affiliate","9":"tag-broadband","10":"tag-internet","11":"tag-tech","12":"tag-technology","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114589108530769490","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}