Millions can halve their broadband costs & double their speed, says Martin Lewis – and reveals the cheapest deals

MILLIONS of Brits can halve their broadband costs and double their speed, Martin Lewis has said.

The personal finance whizz revealed broadband prices are likely to rise by 8 per cent in April – even if you’re mid-contract.

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Shell Energy, Sky, TalkTalk, BT, EE & Plusnet, Vodafone and Virgin Media are all hiking their costs.

This mean if you pay £40 per month now, you’ll roughly pay £43 per month from April.

Virgin Media’s prices are going up by the most from April 1 with a 8.8 per cent increase.

Seven million people are out of contract, but many can halve their costs and double their speed.

During the Martin Lewis Money Show Live, Martin said: “All are massively above inflation, all inflationary and all shouldn’t be allowed.

“The cheapest deals out there are normally short-lived promotional deals on comparison sites.

“Not direct from the firms because they are allowed to put marketing spend into attracting new customers.”

Martin recommended Virgin 132Mb fibre and line for £21 per month and Vodafone 500Mb fibre and line for £28 per month.

To benchmark, those out of contract typically pay BT £52 per month and Virgin Media £44 per month for fibre.

Moneysavingexpert.com offers a free checking and comparison function – where you can compare prices and see where you can save.

Last year Martin issued an urgent warning over potential hikes on broadband and offered his tips on how to avoid it.

At the time, he said: “Remember for the rest of this week, probably from tomorrow, we’re going to get the December inflation figures.

“That’s normally what broadband costs are increased on – and they do it above inflation.

“I’m expecting 15 per cent rises for broadband to be announced on many of the big providers this week.”

Soon after, The Sun revealed that BT, EE and Three were going to up their rates by up to 14.4 per cent in April.

Now, experts are warning that broadband rates are about to sky-rocket once again as of April.

Most providers are suspected to raise their prices by 7.9 per cent – while Virgin Media is raising their price by 8.8 per cent.

Ofcom said mobile and broadband customers were being hit with mid-contract rises, which they found difficult to understand.

Providers are being encouraged to spell out the exact amount in pounds and pence explicitly.

The Sun spelled out how much prices will rise under 11 different providers in the Spring.

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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk