BT warns it will increase phone bills by 6.5%

[4me2]

BT warns it will increase phone bills by 6.5%



Calling BT's talking clock now costs more but it said it still had low-income options




BT has warned millions of customers it is increasing its prices by up to 6.5% from December this year.


It will increase the line rental for direct debit customers by 6.25% to £16.99, and the rate for calling UK landlines by 6.44%.
The set-up fee for landline calls, residential calls, to the speaking clock and call return charges will also increase for some or all customers.
But BT said it had added "extra money-saving options" for poorer customers.


'Taken care'

The majority of its customers were on inclusive call packages and would not pay set-up fees or pence per minute charges on calls, said BT.
BT's option for low-income customers, BT Basic, will stay the same at £5.10 a month with a call allowance.
John Petter, chief executive at BT Consumer, said: "We have taken care to make sure that low-income customers avoid price increases."
He added: "We have added extra money-saving options for low-income customers and for customers who only want a phone line for calls."
Broadband prices are going up by as much as 6.49%, although BT said its current "high profile" press and TV broadband offers would stay at the same price.
It added that call bills had fallen 14% in the past five years.
Sky, BT's rival, is set to increase some of its tariffs from September.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28902300

[flumperino]

I do wonder why an inflation percentage exists when big businesses just choose to completely ignore it when increasing their prices.

[Bald Bouncer]

I do wonder why an inflation percentage exists when big businesses just choose to completely ignore it when increasing their prices.

It's used as baseline for wage rises and is kept artificially low by not including some important factors like house prices, rises in mortgage payments, rents, and council tax, which in real life you pay and don’t get reflected in it.

Money you earn is used as measure but if you want an indication of how things have changed then the biggest purchase anyone makes could be a better indication measured in annual income rather than wages, in 1971 the average annual wage was around £2,000 the average house price was around £5,000 so a house cost two and a half times one persons annual income, today the average wage is around £26,500 and the average house price around £262,500 ten times one persons annual income.

[keyser666]

Bound to come when you factor in how much they paid for football rights

[akimba]

Bound to come when you factor in how much they paid for football rights

Yeah just be a Telephone and broadband supplier keep to what you know rather than wading into something you not had experience in and throwing good money at it only to find the demand you thought was there aint :-S