BT increases cost of
landline calls

Planned 9% price rise for telecoms operator's 12 million customers follows similar increase last year

Consumers already grappling with rising petrol prices, cuts in benefits and other pressures on their wallets face a rise in the cost of landline phone calls next month as higher charges from BT come into force.

The telecoms operator is increasing call charges for its 12 million customers by 9% – more than double the rate of inflation – as it battles to preserve margins in a landline market which faces an increasing threat from the rise of mobile phones.

BT's monthly standard line rental charge will also rise by 30p to £13.90 from 28 April.

The cost of a UK landline call will go up from 7p a minute to 7.6p, while the connection fee levied at the start of a call (for customers not on packages) will rise by 1p to 12.5p. The latest increases come after the operator increased its call charges by 10% and its line rental by 50p last October last year.

BT said some packages would not be subject to the price rises, while customers opting to pay their line rental annually through the line rental saver scheme could shave £46.80 off their bill, paying £120 a year instead of £166.80.

However, in a claim that was disputed by BT, the price comparison site uSwitch claimed that customers on BT's basic package who made two five-minute daytime calls each day would see their monthly bill jump from £28.52 a year ago to £35.78 once BT's new fees take effect.

Consumers using landlines still face a barrage of different prices and packages despite an order by the regulator Ofcom to electricity and energy providers to reform their pricing and stop confusing customers.

Virgin Media charges 8.68p a minute for daytime calls (and the same for evening calls, which cost 1p a minute with BT). TalkTalk has also announced that from May it is increasing its daytime rate to 7.6p a minute, the same as BT's.

The call minder fee will rise by 40p to £3, while calling features, such as displayed numbers, will increase by 30p to £3.

Source: The Guardian, 22nd March 2011

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