BT customers across the UK have been hit with price hikes on their broadband, home phone and TV packages .
With less than three weeks until Christmas, the telecoms giant has increased the cost of its services for more than 10.5 million of its customers and scrapped its discount for paperless bills.
Brits signed up to a BT Anytime Calls plan will see their bills rise by 20p to £4.90, while monthly line rental charges will rise by 5 per cent from £13.90 to £14.60.
Prices of daytime and evening calls will also increase to 7.95p per minute and 1.05p per minute – up from 7.6p and 1p respectively – as will the set-up fee for any call, from 12.5p to 13.1p.
Monthly costs for BT’s broadband customers will jump from anything between 80p and £1.20, depending on their internet package, while those with combined landline and broadband plans face increases of between 70p and £1.40.
The move comes just weeks after consumer budgets were hit by rising energy bills.
But BT director John Petter defended the latest price hikes, saying they will be followed by a price freeze until 2013 for selected services.
He commented: “We are making a series of price updates, but are freezing some prices until 2013 to provide customers with greater certainty over bills.”
