UK Broadband Affordability and the Elusive Social Tariffs: May 2025 update
- Jolanta Stanke
- Jun 16
- 14 min read
Updated: Jun 19
Introduction and methodology
There are various definitions of broadband affordability. In the UK, Ofcom stated that ‘A good or service is considered to be affordable for a consumer if they are able to purchase it without suffering undue hardship’.[1] Ofcom’s Communications Affordability Tracker found that in January 2025, 23% of UK households ‘struggled to afford their communication services’[2].
We have developed our own broadband affordability tracker in the UK, which is based on residential fixed broadband tariffs marketed by retail ISPs. The aim is to identify the lowest available broadband subscription (‘entry level tariff’) that consumers can access in every postcode irrespective of broadband technology[3]. Our analysis also shows average entry level tariffs in every LSOA (England and Wales), Data Zone (Scotland) and Super Data Zone (Northern Ireland). (For brevity, we will refer to LSOAs, DZs and SDZs as ‘small areas’.) This is the fifth update in the series analysing broadband tariffs marketed in May 2025. It is following our September 2023, January 2024, June 2024 and November 2024 analyses. The data for this analysis was collected in early May 2025.
Where more than one ISP offers the same monthly subscription in a postcode, we took into account one-off charges and bandwidth, selecting broadband tariffs with lower one-off charges and higher speeds.
Many of these tariffs come with a minimum commitment of 12, 18 or 24 months. This reflects the reality that most households will sign up for a fixed term contract to get a better deal. One-off charges (for installation, activation and/or equipment) were not included in our calculations but they are contained in our dataset, as they can add to the cost of broadband. Installation of broadband services tends to bear especially high cost in rural areas though some consumers can get the cost subsidised by the Government under the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme.
Where special offers are available - for example, a number of months at a lower price or free of charge, we calculated the average monthly subscription, taking the offers and discounts into account. We did not take into account the mid-contract price rises, though not all ISPs will be imposing them. This is something to look into in the future.
In this update, we identified the lowest available broadband tariffs in an area based on the presence of ISPs in every UK postcode as of June 2025. In turn this was based on the ThinkPoint broadband availability dataset containing data from 1.7 million postcodes[4].
Note on regional variations: some ISPs vary broadband tariffs depending on the postcode. Where we discovered such variations, we used the most common pricing offered in various parts of the country.
In this report, we also included a section on social tariffs, looking at their availability across the UK, even though their awareness and take-up is relatively low. In January 2025, only 31% of eligible decision makers were aware of a fixed broadband social tariff (Communications Affordability Tracker, Ofcom). Clearly, more needs to be done to make social tariffs more visible to those who need them.
[1] Affordability of Communications Services, Ofcom, July 2021.
[3] We excluded mobile, satellite and (public) Wifi technologies.
[4] We acknowledge this is not a complete record, and some smaller ISPs may have been missed. Nevertheless, our analysis is based on over 90 broadband providers, including all the largest ISPs, serving a significant proportion of the UK broadband market.
Entry level broadband tariffs: value for money?
As of May 2025, the lowest available broadband subscription at the postcode level varied from £12.50 (an FTTP tariff) to £38.32 (a fixed-wireless access, or FWA tariff). The £12.50 tariff was advertised by Community Fibre as ‘Essential’ and came with 35Mbps symmetrical speeds on a 12 months contract. It was available in 50,586 postcodes, mainly in London. At the other end of the spectrum, the cheapest broadband available in 53 postcodes was priced at £38.32 and supplied by Voneus. Its FWA package included average 40Mbps symmetrical speeds on a 24 months contract.
UK-wide detailed pricing data at the postcode level is available as part of our UK Broadband Mapping service, and it can be updated monthly upon request. Beyond this point, in this analysis we will mainly refer to the pricing at the small area level (LSOAs / DZs / SDZs).
At the ‘small area’ level across the UK, entry level broadband subscriptions varied from £12.50 to £29.95 a month (Table 1).
Table 1. Lowest price broadband providers across LSOAs, DZs and SDZs (‘small areas’), May 2025. Source: Point Topic.
As at the postcode level, the cheapest option was a £12.50 ‘Essential’ broadband from Community Fibre. 6G Internet (Opus Broadband) followed with a £12.99 FWA tariff which included 30/10Mbps speeds and £99 installation charge on a 24 month contract. At the most expensive end, in one ‘small area’ the cheapest broadband available was supplied by TalkTalk at £29.95 a month. It was an ADSL service with a free activation and 24-month commitment.
In terms of downstream bandwidth and price ratio, TalkTalk’s ADSL service also came out as the most expensive - £2.72 per Mbps compared to the cheapest at £0.02-0.03 per Mbps from the likes of Tove Valley and WeFibre, the FTTP altnets offering symmetric 1Gbps speeds. For Virgin Media O2, whose entry level 132/20Mbps broadband plan came out as the cheapest in the largest number of ‘small areas’ (14,903), the average cost per Mbps was £0.18.
Compared to six months ago, we saw the cheaper broadband tariffs becoming available in slightly more ‘small areas’. In May 2025, the entry level tariffs at the lower end of the price range (£10 - £14.99) were available in 13.1% of ‘small areas’, as opposed to 11.9% we recorded in November 2024. On the other hand, this time the cheapest broadband subscription was in the £15.00-£19.99 range in only 6% of ‘small areas’, compared to 10.6% of areas we recorded six months ago. At the higher end, in May 2025, the cheapest broadband tariffs available varied between £25.00 and £30.00 in 15% of ‘small areas’, compared to 11.2% in November 2024. ‘Black Friday’ deals advertised in November could partly explain such a difference. Overall, as before, the majority of ‘small areas’ had the cheapest tariffs ranging from £20.00 to £24.99 (66% in both periods).
The geographical distribution of the monthly pricing can be seen in the map below. Unsurprisingly, the cheapest broadband tariffs tended to be available around large urban areas, where there is more competition as well as demand.
Similarly to our November 2024 analysis, FTTP is dominating as the cheapest broadband technology (43.2% of UK postcodes, up from 40%), as Openreach and altnets continue with fibre rollout (Table 2). However, we can still see a significant number of areas where the cheapest broadband plans available are on Docsis 3.1 and FTTC platforms (28.4% and 22.1% of postcodes respectively). The share of Docsis 3.1 postcodes went up from 27.4%, while the share of FTTC postcodes dropped from 23.1%, compared to November 2024.
Table 2. Distribution of technologies and pricing offered on cheapest broadband subscriptions, May 2025. Source: Point Topic.
FWA as the lowest subscription broadband is also available in slightly fewer postcodes than 6 months ago (4.3% compared to 6.6%). It remains common in the Southeast, parts of the Southwest, Wales and the Midlands (Figure 3).
Along with its broad availability, on average FTTP continued to be among the cheapest entry level options for consumers (£23.17), undercut only by FWA (£18.36). Docsis 3.1 based entry level broadband plans came a close third compared to FTTP (£23.99). Legacy technologies FTTC and ADSL were at the higher end of average prices (£25.61 and £29.96 respectively), albeit ADSL was the cheapest available option in just 2% of UK postcodes.
Entry level tariffs come with a range of downstream bandwidth – the geographical distribution is visible in the map below. Compared to November 2024, we are seeing more areas with lower entry level speeds in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where we recorded more postcodes with FTTC and Docsis 3.1 as cheapest broadband technologies.
In terms of numbers, compared to November 2024, the percentage of ‘small areas’ in the 100-199Mbps bandwidth range dropped from 50.6% to 49.2% (Figure 5). The download speeds in the under 100Mbps range (more typical of FTTC and FWA) were available in 45.9% of ‘small areas’ in May 2025, compared to 45.1% in November 2024. In 213 ‘small areas’, the cheapest broadband plans offered 500-1000Mbps download speeds, up from 121 areas six months previously. Overall, the changes between the two periods were small.
The level of competition at the small area level varies significantly across the UK, as shown in the map below. Predictably, the general trend is that consumers in large urban areas with high population density are still enjoying much higher availability of competing ISPs[1] [2]. Most consumers in Wales, the Southwest, East Anglia and the Highlands have fewer providers to choose from.
[1] The map shows retail ISPs.
[2] The map reflects the largest 91 ISPs included in this study.
Does competitive landscape affect the average price and bandwidth of broadband services available in the area? We discovered a moderate negative correlation (-0.49) between the lowest entry level broadband price and the number of ISPs at the postcode level. Of course, correlation does not mean causation. We also conducted some comparisons between areas with different competition levels.
We compared postcodes with one ISP and those with more than one broadband provider. UK-wide, we found 131,420 postcodes with only one broadband provider. BT and Virgin Media O2 are dominating these postcodes, with the former present in 70% of them.
There appear to be significant differences in the average and median subscriptions, with more competitive postcodes enjoying lower entry level broadband tariffs (Table 3). For example, the average cheapest subscription in the postcodes with only one ISP was £27.18, compared to £23.60 in more competitive areas. The median values were £27.99 and £23.99 respectively. The differences in the average and median downstream speeds were even greater: the average speed in postcodes served by 1 ISP was 60.1Mbps compared to 99.6Mbps in postcodes with more than one ISP. The median speeds were 36Mbps and 82Mbps respectively.
Table 3. Lowest broadband tariffs (GBP) and bandwidth in postcodes with different competition levels, May 2025. Source: Point Topic.
Areas with no competition are often in remote and rural areas, so we used another test to compare the broadband services consumers have available. Comparing ‘small areas’ in England and Wales by urban / rural splits, the average and median subscription was slightly higher in rural areas (£23.11 and £24.95) as opposed to £21.55 and £23.99 in urban areas (Figure 7).
The difference in downstream bandwidth was more pronounced. Interestingly, the average downstream bandwidth in rural areas was 116.5Mbps compared to 105.2Mbps in urban ones. The difference in median speeds was reversed - 77Mbps in rural areas and 132Mbps in urban areas (Figure 8).
In summary, it appears that consumers in areas with no competition from multiple ISPs and in rural areas (many of which coincide), are disadvantaged in terms of the entry level broadband pricing. The pricing differences are especially notable between ‘no competition’ and more competitive postcodes, with the latter also having higher bandwidth.
Residents of rural areas are getting higher bandwidth on average (likely skewed by some rural ISPs, sometimes offering only one high speed broadband plan) but the median bandwidth in rural areas is still significantly lower.
So, the lack of competition appears to be an especially important factor when it comes to broadband pricing and bandwidth on offer, with the low population density also having an effect on pricing. (It is important to remember that we are focusing on entry level tariffs in this analysis).
Social Tariffs
For this analysis, we started with a list of social tariffs published by Ofcom[1], complimenting it with our own research which included validating the prices and bandwidth at the time of data collection for this report. We did not include the tariffs available on mobile networks.
Our aim was to identify the cheapest social tariff available in every postcode and ‘small area’ of the UK.
One of the striking findings of our research was that most providers made it difficult to locate social tariffs on their websites even after using their postcode checkers. Instead of being listed alongside other broadband packages, they were sometimes hidden in ‘help’, ‘support’, ‘FAQ’ sections and even blogs. In some cases, though such tariffs were listed in the top navigation menus, they were called ‘Essential’, ‘Flex’, ‘Basic’, without reference to ‘social’ tariff. Several ISPs had a link to ‘Social Tariff’ in the footer at the very bottom of their website which is often ignored by site users. It is regrettable, given that social tariff customers are already vulnerable and some may lack digital skills and time to try and locate them.
We included social tariffs from 26 ISPs in our analysis. The cheapest available social tariffs across the ‘small areas’ are listed in Table 4.
Table 4. Cheapest social tariff broadband providers across ‘small areas’, May 2025. Source: Point Topic.
* Hard to find on the ISP’s website
** Not obvious on the ISP's website
1 via Hey Broadband
2 via Ashford Fibre
3 Also offers the ‘no income’ tariff with 36Mbps download speed at £16 a month.
The cheapest social tariffs varied from £10 a month for 100Mbps downstream bandwidth from Fusion Fibre (12 months contract) to £24 for BT’s full fibre with 73Mbps downstream speed (also on 12 months contract). Overall, the majority of providers offered either 1 month rolling contract or a 12 months contract and no exit fees. In a number of cases, however, there was lack of information on exit fees on the website, with providers requiring potential customers to call their helpline to find out full details.
We found a social tariff in 98.9% of UK postcodes. Virgin Media O2’s social tariff (£12.50 for 15Mbps either on Docsis3.1 or on FTTP) was the cheapest option in most ‘small areas’ (28,578).
The lowest priced social tariffs (£10.00 - £14.99) were available in the largest proportion of UK ‘small areas’ (76.5%) (Figure 9). In comparison, as we discussed earlier, ‘regular’ cheapest broadband tariffs in this range were available in 13.1% of ‘small areas’. In 15.3% of areas, the cheapest social tariff cost between £20.00 and £24.99, in contrast to ‘regular’ tariffs (65.9% of areas).
Geographically, there were pockets of higher tier social tariffs in most parts of England, Wales and Scotland. Nearly all ‘small areas’ in Northern Ireland could get a social tariff within the £12.50 - £15.00 range (Figure 10).
At the same time, the majority of ‘small areas’ in Northern Ireland enjoyed downstream bandwidth at the higher end of the spectrum (40-50Mbps), but the highest available speeds on social tariffs here were lower than in England, Scotland and Wales (up to 150Mbps) (Figure 11).
In 83% of ‘small areas’, the downstream bandwidth on the cheapest social tariffs was up to 49.99Mbps, which can be a challenge to larger families. Consumers in 13.6% of the areas were offered 100-200Mbps speeds, mainly by FTTP altnets as well as Sky (Figure 12).
As in the case of regular tariffs, the number of ISPs offering social tariffs tended to be higher in urban areas with higher population density (Figure 13). Large parts of Wales, the Southwest, Northwest, Northeast, East Anglia, and the Highlands had relatively little competition.
We found strong negative correlation (-0.74) between the price of social tariff and the number of ISPs offering such tariffs at the postcode level. (See our earlier caveat about correlation and causation).
The lack of competition appears to be linked to both less attractive prices and bandwidth available to potential social tariff users (Table 5). In postcodes with one ISP, the average and median monthly subscription was £19.41 and £21.00 respectively, compared to £15.83 and £12.50 in the postcodes with more than one ISP. The average downstream speed was also significantly lower in less competitive areas – 36.9Mbps compared to 59.5Mbps. The median speed was higher in one ISP postcodes (36Mbps) as opposed to the postcodes with more than one ISP (16Mbps). This is due to the fact that BT is dominating one provider postcodes (76.3% of them), and their cheapest social tariff on our list had a 36Mbps bandwidth.
Table 5. Lowest social tariffs (GBP) and bandwidth in postcodes with different competition levels, May 2025. Source: Point Topic.
Similarly, the average and median subscription on lowest social tariffs was more favourable in urban ‘small areas’ (£13.27 and £12.50) compared to the rural ones (£16.17 and £15.00) respectively (Figure 14).
The average downstream speed in rural areas was more than double that in urban areas (61.8Mbps versus 30Mbps). Again, this is related to the availability of providers. Virgin Media O2 was dominating as the most common cheapest social tariff provider, and it tends to be present in urban areas. Its low downstream speed of 15Mbps on its cheapest social tariff affected the average speed value. Median speeds in the two types of areas were more or less identical – 16Mbps and 15Mbps respectively (Figure 15).
In summary, like in the case of ‘regular’ entry level tariffs, the cheapest social tariffs tend to be more expensive in postcodes with no competition and in rural areas. The extent of competition is also important when it comes to available bandwidth.
Although entry level social tariffs are on average cheaper than ‘regular’ broadband packages, the bandwidth on most of them is relatively low. Furthermore, the issue of low take-up of social tariffs remains. It is mainly due to the lack of consumer awareness, exacerbated by broadband providers failing to advertise social tariffs in the same way they market other broadband packages.
Policy in Practice have estimated that up to 8.4 million households are missing out on broadband social tariffs, amounting to £1.7 billion of support going unclaimed each year[1]. In January 2025 only 31% of households eligible for fixed broadband social tariffs were aware of them. Only 17% of them first heard about broadband social tariffs through their communications provider[2]. Furthermore, this proportion was only 10% among those most financially vulnerable.
In a recent study of social tariffs by Citizens Advice, 82% of the advisers surveyed agreed that broadband providers not effectively advertising social tariffs was a key reason why clients were not aware of them. Not only social tariffs are often hidden in obscure sections of the websites, ISP customer service agents fail to mention them when talking to existing and potential customers. “In total, 44% of people behind on their broadband bills were not contacted or signposted to social tariffs by their provider. Even when individuals reached out to their suppliers for help, 12% were still not signposted to social tariffs[3].”
[1] Missing Out 2024, report by Policy and Practice.
[3] Barriers to Access: Why water and broadband social tariffs aren’t reaching struggling households, report by Citizens Advice.
Concluding Summary
The price and bandwidth of the entry level broadband plans that consumers can access in different areas of the UK continue to be variable. Depending on where they live, the cheapest broadband available to households in some areas is an FTTP-based service with 35/35Mps speeds for £12.50 a month, or a FWA connection with 40/40Mbps speeds for £38.32 a month.
Digital ‘deprivation’ is still present, especially in terms of entry level broadband pricing and bandwidth available in postcodes with one broadband provider. The average cheapest subscription in the postcodes with only one ISP was £27.18, compared to £23.60 in more competitive areas. The difference in the average downstream speeds was even greater: the average speed in postcodes served by one ISP was 60.1Mbps compared to 99.6Mbps in postcodes with more than one ISP.
The cheapest social tariffs available in an area varied less than ‘regular’ tariffs, with tariffs in the lowest range (£10.00-14.99) being available in three quarters of all ‘small areas’. However, the downstream speed in 83% of the areas was under 49Mbps.
The lack of competition was linked to both less attractive prices and bandwidth available to social tariff users. In postcodes with one ISP, the average and median entry level monthly subscription was £19.41 and £21.00 respectively, compared to £15.83 and £12.50 in the postcodes with more than one ISP. The average downstream speed was also significantly different between the two types of postcodes – 36.9Mbps and 59.5Mbps respectively.
Additionally, the lack of awareness of social tariffs means that millions of households are missing out on them. Like other recent studies, we found poor marketing by many broadband providers to be the case.
At the same time, the cost of living crisis continues, making consumers to rethink their spending priorities. With 23% of the UK households struggling to afford their communication services (January 2025[1]), broadband risks becoming a luxury in some homes.
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Get in touch
The complete dataset used to produce this analysis is part of our UK Broadband Mapping at postcode level and UK Plus services. For more information see https://www.point-topic.com/uk-mapping and https://www.point-topic.com/ukplus
To find out more you can contact us on 020 3301 3303 or e-mail oliver.johnson@point-topic.com
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