Sky hikes phone prices from TODAY – how to avoid paying more

SKY is hiking phone prices from today for landline customers.

The cost of making a call with Sky Talk on a home phone is going up by 10% from May 1.

Sky customers sill pay more for calls after a price increaseAFP or licensors

You’ll now pay 22p per minute to talk to friends and family, up from 20p.

The increase applies to calls made to mobiles and other home phones in the UK.

How much more you’ll pay overall for using your landline will depend on the tariff you have and your usage.

For instance with Sky Pay As You Talk all calls will cost you 22p per minute, regardless of the time, or day of the week.

But with Sky Talk Anytime Extra you pay a flat fee and can make unlimited calls at any day or time.

International calls may be charged at different rates, depending on your tariff.

The monthly cost of tariffs that include some calls, like at evenings and weekends, or covers all calls is not changing, and neither is the cost of line rental.

And prices for extra phone features like voicemail and call waiting are staying the same.

The increase to call costs follows hot on the heels of Sky hiking the price of TV and broadband for millions of customers by up to £43 a year.

It’s not the only one putting up bills either, as Virgin, BT, Vodafone and telecoms firms have increased broadband and phone prices.

And Sky will bring back EU roaming charges from May 3, adding a cost of £2 per day to holidaymakers bills for using mobile data, making calls and texts like you do in the UK.

Price rises could prompt you to consider switching to a cheaper tariff or company to save cash, but make sure you check your contract first.

You may have to pay an exit fee for leaving so check your terms and conditions.

If you do decide to switch, comparison websites such as Compare The Market and Moneysupermarket can help you to find cheap deals.

You might have Sky Talk as part of a package with broadband or TV, or both.

It’s worth checking if you’re on the right package and ditching anything you don’t use, like removing channels you don’t watch.

If you’re not on a combined package and pay for each separately you might get a better deal combining them.

If you’ve been with your current TV, broadband or landline phone provider for more than a couple of years then you’re probably paying over the odds.

You could try haggling a better price with your current provider, or switch to a new one if you find a cheaper option.

Make sure to check that you’re still getting the service you need, like the right broadband speeds.

One Virgin Media customer saved almost £700 on their TV and broadband package just by asking the company in such a way.

If you’re on benefits like Universal Credit you might be eligible for cheaper broadband through social tariffs.