BT to raise prices by up to 6.5%

Millions of BT phone and broadband customers will face price hikes come the New Year, but the telecoms giant denies any link to the investment it has made in sports TV or superfast broadband.

Millions of BT phone and broadband customers will face price hikes of up to 6.5% in the New Year.

The raft of price increases will take effect from 4th January, but customers will be notified of the changes from this week.

Here is an outline of the main changes.

Line rental and calls

Standard line rental will be going up by 3.5%, from £15.45 to £15.99 a month.

Meanwhile the price of calls to UK landlines and 0870 numbers will go up from 8.41p per minute to 8.95p per minute during the day and from 1.11p to 1.18p in the evenings, a 6% rise.

Set-up fees from landlines or Broadband Talk, will go up from 13.87p to 14.6p a call, though those on inclusive calling plans will not be affected.

International calls will also go up by as much as 6.5%, but mobile charges are being kept the same for the third year running.

Broadband

Broadband prices are also rising by no more than 6.5%, although current broadband offers won’t change.

If you are on a limited service, the charge you pay for going over your usage limit will go up from £5.00 to £5.30 per 5GB.

Call packages

Call packages available to new customers like Unlimited Anytime and Unlimited Evening and Weekend will remain unchanged.

But customers on some plans that are no longer for sale will suffer increases of up to 6.4%.

The Unlimited Anytime Plus, Unlimited Anytime and Mobile, and Unlimited Anytime Plan, Unlimited Evening and Weekend Plan and Friends and Family Mobile will be impacted.

Calling features

Pay-per-use features will go up by up to 6.4%.

The cost of Timeline, formerly known as the Speaking Clock, is going up by 6.3% from 34.4p per minute to 36.6p per minute.

Call Return via 1471 or 1571 is going up 6.4% from 18.7p per call to 19.9p per call.

Reminder Call and Ring Back will also be going up by 6.4% from 40.7p per call to 43.3p per call.

The telecoms giant will also start charging for previously free Calling Features.

BT Answer, which provides voicemail on your home phone, will now cost £1.75 a month.

BT Privacy with Caller Display will also now cost £1.75 a month. This will be charged unless a customer renews their line contract for a year.

The price of other Calling Features will be rising by up to 6.5%, including Anonymous Call Reject, used to combat nuisance and cold callers, which is rising to £4.75 a month.

Early termination fees

BT will also be raising the termination fees on a selection of packages for customers that want to leave mid-contract.

These will range from 15% to 30%.

Customers on Unlimited Anytime Plan Plus will see the biggest hike.

Why have prices gone up?

BT has denied the price hikes are linked to its massive investment in sports TV broadcasting and superfast broadband infrastructure.

BT said that the company reviewed prices every year and in an intensely competitive market ‘some go up, and others come down.’

It is reported that BT has spent £1 billion bagging the rights to broadcast live Premiership football and rugby games for its new BT Sports channel designed to rival Sky. Read: BT Sport versus Sky: The battle for football fans for more.

It offers the channel free to BT broadband customers, and it has attracted nearly one million new broadband customers since launch. The company is reportedly offsetting the big investments made on cutting costs within the business.

To compare deals on broadband available in your area, go to broadbandchoices.co.uk.

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