UK Telecom giant BT is notifying customers of a possible hike in its prices by up to 6.5 percent from December this year.
The company announced that it will increase the standard line rental price for direct debit customers by £1, or 6.25 percent, to £16.99, while the pence per minute (ppm) rate for calls to UK landlines and 0870 numbers will go up 6.44 percent from 9p a minute to 9.58p with effect from December 1.
The set-up fee for landline calls will increase to 15.97p from 15p, residential calls to the Timeline speaking clock will go up to 38.97p from 36.6p and call return will increase to 21.19p from 19.9p for some or all customers.
Broadband prices are expected to go up by 6.49 percent, although BT said its current “high profile” press and TV broadband offers will not see any change. The Unlimited Anytime Calls plan price will increase by 6.43 percent from £7 a month to £7.45.
The BT Basic phone service for low-income customers’ rental will remain the same at £5.10 a month with a call allowance.
The telecom giant said that the majority of its customers were on inclusive call packages and did not pay the set-up fee or ppm charges, adding that call bills had fallen 14 percent in the past five years.
John Petter, chief executive at BT Consumer, said that the company has taken care to make sure that low-income customers are not affected by price increases.
He said that the extra money-saving options for low-income customers and for customers who only want a phone line for calls have also been added.
