Home phone News

BT hikes line rental by 50p a month

Monday 19 July, 2010

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

BT is putting up line rental by 50p from 1 October to £12.04 a month.

BT (www.bt.com), Britain’s biggest home phone provider, is writing to customers today informing them that line rental will increase by 50p a month, alongside other increases to call rates.

Line rental with BT will cost £12.04 a month from 1 October, if customers pay by direct debit and sign-up for online paperless billing.

BT is also increasing some call costs from 1 October:

• The cost of weekday daytime calls for customers on BT’s Weekend Call Plan will increase from 5.9p to 6.4p per minute
• The call connection fee - a one-off charge for each call made outside of your inclusive calls - is increasing from 9.9p to 10.9p per call
• The cost of using the Call Return calling feature is increasing from 12.2p to 16.5p per use.

In a separate move, the telecoms giant said that customers looking to save money on their landline bills could counteract the price increases by changing the way they pay for their line rental.

Anyone signing up BT’s new Line Rental Saver deal will be able to pay for 12 months of line rental in one lump sum in advance, saving over £30 a year on their line rental.

Michael Phillips, product director at Homephonechoices.co.uk, said: “It’s disappointing to see these increases; bills should be getting cheaper given the current state of customers’ finances.”

Phillips added: “BT sets the agenda in the home phone market so I won’t be surprised if we see other providers follow suit and hike up their own charges.”

Comments