BT has announced that prices for its broadband, phone and line rental services will increase slightly in 2014.
From January 4 onwards, broadband prices will be going up by ‘up to 6.5 per cent’ but we’re told that bundle deals like broadband and weekend calls for £10.00/month and BT Infinity 1 and weekend calls for £15.00/month will stay as they are.
Line rental is going up by 54p from £15.45/month to £15.99/month and customers on older call packages, which are no longer available to new customers, will see price rises of around 6 per cent.
Despite this, BT says that it won’t be putting up prices of current packages, so Evening & Weekend Calls and Anytime Calls will stay at £2/month and £7/month respectively.
Read our guides to Line Rental Updates for 2013 and paying for line rentalPer minute rates will also go up slightly. BT says that most customers on its call plans make use of the free inclusive minutes. A spokesperson revealed that customers’ calls bills have decreased 14 per cent in the last five years as a result phone bundles.
Those who don’t capitalise on the offer of free calls can expect to pay 1.18p/minute for calls in the evenings and from 8.95p/minute during the day.
It seems like BT wants to get customers to sign up for bundle deals and take advantage of free minutes, rather than taking out services on their own. A spokesperson said:
“BT will be updating some of its prices from January 2014, following a summer in which we slashed the price of our entry level broadband for new customers by up to 12 per cent. We are writing to our customers to let them know about these changes and to make it clear how they can save money via various deals.”
“Whilst some prices may go up during the year, many go down or remain the same. We want customers to move onto those plans as they can save money. Hopefully these changes will encourage that.”
Customers can expect to get letters through the post which will detail the changes to their rates. Whatever combination of broadband and calls you take, everyone will be required to pay the new rate of line rental.
Those who want to take advantage of the Line Rental Saver offer will still be able to pay £141 to get 12 months’ worth of line rental up front.
The cost of Sky Sports 1 and 2 on BT TV will also be going up slightly. Each channel on its own will go up from £15.00/month to £15.50/month. The cost of taking both channels together will increase by £1, from £20.00/month to £21.00/month.
Finally, BT will also be putting the price of Answer 1571 (call waiting and voicemail) and Privacy with Caller Display up to £1.75/month. If you renew your line rental with BT for another year, then the privacy option will continue to be free for another year.
Prices rises seem to be everywhere at the moment. TalkTalk puts up its line rental tomorrow and Virgin Media will be increasing the cost of its broadband-only packages.
Image: L2F1/Flickr
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