BT TV price increases from September

BT TV’s subscriptions are increasing from 20th September, in line with wider price changes for BT customers, which will also affect the cost of line rental, inclusive call packages and importantly, the broadband service required for BT TV.

Customers who signed up to BT TV on or before 24th July, perhaps to benefit from free access to all of BT Sport’s channels from 1st August 2015, will pay between 30p and £1 extra per month for their TV service.

In addition, line rental increases from £16.99 to £17.99, call connection charges (where applicable) increase to 17.07p per call and the anytime calls package will cost £7.95, up from £7.45 from 20th September. Various broadband packages, required to receive BT TV, will also increase in price by up to 6.94%, depending on the the broadband package. Users can check their personal price increases via the BT website. Those who have purchased a year’s line rental upfront (line rental saver), will not be affected by the line rental increases until their year is up. And users with usage caps on their BT broadband product who ‘recontract’ with BT can currently benefit from a doubling of their data allowance.

Affected users may leave BT without penalty within 30 days of being officially notified of the price increases. Early termination charges for users who want to leave BT before the end of their contract from 20th September 2015 will also increase, with some increases in excess of 10% per month.

As can be seen from the BT TV price increase table above, BT has a complex pricing structure, which in addition to the TV packages listed above, also consists of different elements (e.g. calls, line rental, broadband) and many users have secured special discount deals with the company. Various BT products have different contractual terms and timescales, but some BT customers have reported that during recent product change requests, their 18 month contracts have been replaced with shorter 12 month contracts. And there are a number of special deals now available for new customers.

Earlier this month, BT launched a new Ultra HD TV service, which is currently being offered at £15 a month, less than the £20 a month standard price listed in the offical BT price list. £44 installation fee applies, plus £6.95 delivery. A £49 “box swap fee” applies for existing BT TV customers, according to the company, but a BT Community spokesperson recently said that viewers could keep their old YouView box if they’ve ordered a new UHD YouView box.