BT raises call charges and line rental from October

Telecoms giant BT announced yesterday that it will be raising the cost of landline calls by 10 per cent as from October. It also revealed that line rental charges will increase by 50 pence per month too. The company is set to write to customers shortly in order to notify them of the impending rises.

Amendments to connection charges and call rates means that as of October, the cost of making a call will be 17.3 pence, which BT insists is necessary for it to stave off the effects of the recession. Daytime call charges will jump from 5.9 pence a minute to 6.4 pence. Call set-up fees will rise from 9.9 pence to 10.9 pence. With the line rental increase, the monthly charge for that will go up to £13.29 per month, although customers signed up for email billing will get off slightly lighter at £12.04.

BT attempted to add a more positive note to proceedings by stating that only customers on their standard calling plans would be affected buy the price hike and that around half of their subscribers would not be hit by any rises. Although BT has returned to profit the company is hoping to ride out the recession by drawing customers into their long-term contract packages that will be outside of the price rising remit.

Lightweight users are likely to feel the impact of the rises the most, while it is thought that many broadband customers might see the changes as the perfect time to move to another landline provider. However, customers who decide to take the long-sighted approach might see some savings. For example, paying for a years line rental in advance can deliver an instant saving with BT offering a special price of £113.88 for an one year term until 29th October. This compares to the new Line Rental Saver package which is £131.88 for a year.