Why are UK telecoms firms imposing inflation-busting bills?

Exclusive: Ofcom is facing calls to intervene after companies pushed through prices rises of up to 17% this year

• Mobile and broadband firms accused of fuelling UK greedflation' with major price hikes
• Case study: I'm being forced to make difficult choices'

In the autumn of 2020, bosses at BT were faced with a problem. Britain's economy was reeling as the second deadly wave of the Covid pandemic took hold, and millions of Britons were still shut out from their offices, working from home.

Demand had ballooned for BT's sprawling broadband network and its EE mobile phone service, as the nation Zoomed in to meetings and switched to shopping online. Its contracts, like those of other telecoms companies, allowed it to increase prices each year by linking them to inflation. But in the lockdowns, with the wider economy in freefall, inflation had collapsed close to zero, limiting the firm's ability to recoup costs.