Telecoms companies blame price rises on increased input costs
Three of Estonia's largest telecommunications companies are raising service prices this year, citing higher labor, development and energy costs, alongside general inflation.
Representatives of Telia, Elisa, and Tele2 all say the prices of their telecommunications services are constantly subject to change. Prices have now risen due to market conditions, competition and changes in input costs.
"The baseline costs are growing. We invest around €50 million in Estonia every year. The situation has also changed in the sense that security is definitely an area where we are investing more. We are preventing fraudulent calls so scammers cannot reach people," said Evelin Neerot, head of Telia's connectivity services department.
"Looking at the average price range, the main thing consumers notice is the many tax changes that we have seen recently. This is reflected in the final price of services and is particularly painful for private customers," said Rasmus Nurk, head of private customer services at Tele2.
"Elisa will raise its service prices during the first quarter, and these price increases will affect smart packages and home internet packages," said Evelin Tulp, head of telecom services at Elisa.
However, it remains difficult to say how much prices will rise on average, as everything depends on customer needs.
"I can say that we have informed our customers of the price increase for television. The price of one package has risen by less than €2 and that change has already come into effect," Neerot explained.
"We have hundreds of packages, so I cannot provide one percentage because the price increases are so widespread. Both smart packages and home internet packages are affected by our price changes, and the price increase averages between €0.99 and €1.99," Tulp added.
"We have already notified some of the customers who are affected by the price changes. Some customers have yet to receive this message, but this certainly does not affect all customers across the board. It mainly impacts customers who have remained on old packages that have already reached the end of their life cycle," Nurk said.
All three service providers are discontinuing their older existing packages.
Services will not become cheaper. However, according to Nurk, it is still worth keeping an eye on special offers. At the same time, more requests from customers to switch providers while keeping the same phone number were initiated in 2024 than last year, even though price increases were at similar levels.
"This shows that consumers' interest in looking for better deals, asking for better prices, or comparing prices, has diminished," Nurk pointed out.
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Editor: Michael Cole, Mari Peegel
Source: "Aktuaalne kaamera"
