Citizens Advice reacts to Ofcom’s Pricing trends for communications services in the UK report

Anne Pardoe, Head of Policy at Citizens Advice, said:

“Internet access is essential for modern life; people rely on it for work, for banking and school children need it to do homework. But the rising cost is becoming punishingly high for the most struggling households.

“With awareness and uptake still stubbornly low, social tariffs simply aren’t working. What’s more, we regularly hear from our advisers about the difficulties people face applying for social tariffs. We also know eligible people aren't signing up because they're worried that the broadband is too slow for their needs.

“Anyone could find themselves needing a safety net if their circumstances change, and our latest research shows millions of bill payers are struggling with their broadband costs. So we want to see the government bring in a discount voucher for those who need it, and, most importantly, make social tariffs a product customers trust and want.”

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Additional information:

We are the people's champion. We give people the knowledge and confidence they need to find their way forward - whoever they are, and whatever their problem.

Notes to editors:

1. Ofcom’s latest report shows awareness around mobile and broadband social tariffs stands at 30% of eligible households, while uptake from eligible households is 8.6%.

2. Yonder Consulting conducted a nationally representative online survey of 4,364 energy bills payers across Great Britain, for Citizens Advice. Fieldwork took place between 6th January and 18th January 2026. These results excludes anyone who doesn’t pay a broadband bill:

   1. Respondents were asked: “How easy or difficult do you find it to reliably afford the following bills? Broadband”

      1. Very difficult - 2%

      2. Somewhat difficult - 10%

      3. 13% of people are already struggling with their broadband costs - NET of above answers. 

   2. The millions of billpayers is 3.9 million bill payers, which is calculated by 13.1% of the number of energy bill payers in Great Britain in 2024 (29.7 million), which is similar to 13.1% of the number of broadband bill payers in Great Britain in 2025 (29.5 million).

3. Citizens Advice is the people’s champion - supporting people across England and Wales through: the national charity Citizens Advice; the network of independent local Citizens Advice charities; the Citizens Advice consumer service; and the Witness Service.

4. Our network of charities offers impartial advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free. 

5. Citizens Advice helped 2.71 million people face to face, over the phone, by email and webchat in 2024-25. And we had 44 million visits to our website. For full service statistics see our monthly publication Advice trends.

6. Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 19,500 trained volunteers, working at over 1,900 locations across England and Wales.

7. Citizens Advice is the statutory consumer advocate for energy and postal markets. We provide supplier performance information to consumers and policy analysis to decision makers. 

8. You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 or 0808 223 1144 for Welsh language speakers.