BT price hikes sends daytime call costs soaring 40% in just over a year

BT is to push through a new round of price hikes in a move that will mean the cost of daytime calls has soared by 40 per cent in just over a year.

The telecoms giant put up the cost per minute from 5.4p to 5.9p in April last year and followed that with further rises over the past 12 months.

Now the figure will go up to 7.6p a minute from April 28 as part of a raft of price rises that are expected to be followed by rivals.

The company is also putting up monthly line rental for the third time in a year. The figure will go up to £13.90 from the end of April, which compares to £12.79 a year ago.

The call connection fee will go up to 12.5p, which represents a rise of 34.4per cent on the 9.3p it was at the beginning of last year.

Increases to the cost of the call minder service and the standard broadband service are also being imposed.

The increases come as people switch away from traditional landline calls to using their mobiles or making free voice calls over the internet.

BT is also trying to pressure customers to sign up for its all-inclusive monthly 'anytime' packages where customers pay a set monthly fee in return for free calls to most landlines.

However, the rises will come as a further blow to families, pensioners and others who are already suffering the biggest squeeze on living standards in 90 years.

Michael Phillips of the telephone price comparison service, homephonechoices.co.uk, said: 'We are very disappointed that BT is raising the cost of its monthly line rental for the third time in the space of 12 months.

'Other suppliers will inevitably fall into BT's slip stream, as was demonstrated with repeated copy cat price increases in 2010. This latest price increase will do little to ease the rising cost of living that UK consumers are currently facing.'

He said the cheapest monthly line rental is currently available from Primus, which charges £6.79 a month.

He added: 'While these price changes are far from ideal, BT does offer a discounted line rental deal saving customers £45 if they pay for 12 months upfront.

'Customers wanting to stay with BT should review their calling patterns and seriously consider switching to an anytime calling plan.'

Source: The Daily Mail, 22nd March 2011

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