BT customers face price hikes

Charges: Hefty rises to services

BT has announced price increases for millions of households signed up to its landline and broadband services.

The company, which supplies 10 million households, said landline charges will rise by £1 a month, or 5.5%, to almost £19, while the cost of the popular Unlimited Anytime Calls package will jump from £7.95 to £8.50 – a 6.9% increase.

Broadband prices are going up in most cases. The average price for Infinity will go up £2.05 and the standard price for copper broadband will jump from £13 to £15.

However, BT said copper customers will receive 20% extra usage allowance and security upgrades worth £43 a year and speeds will increase from up to 38Mbps to up to 52MBps for most Infinity 1 customers.

The cost of making a call to UK landlines and 0870 numbers will go up from 10.24p a minute to 11p and set up fees will be rising from 17.07p to 19p.

BT Sport is also going up by £1 a month to £6.

Letters are being sent to customers advising them of the increases, which will apply to all bills from July 3.

For many BT customers the size of the hike will come as unpleasant news but not a surprise following increases of 6% to 7% last year and the year before – which were promptly followed by the company’s rivals.

John Petter, chief executive of BT Consumer, defended the hikes, saying customers would benefit from faster fault repairs, more Barclays Premier League games at better times and faster broadband speeds.

He said: “We realise that customers never welcome price rises, but we have again ensured that low- income customers avoid increases.”