BT landline customers to have bills SLASHED by £84-a-year saving money for up to one million Brits
The telecoms regulator, Ofcom announced the price slash after a review found customers had been getting poor value for money
BT landline customers are set to have their bills slashed by £84-a-year following an Ofcom review.
The regulator announced the price cut after it found up to one million customers had been getting ripped off.
The reduction in bills will benefit hundreds of thousands of elderly customers who have landline but not broadband or TV services from the telecoms giant.
It was found they had been getting poor value for money compared to customers with broadband and TV bundles.
Ofcom found nearly two-thirds of landline-only customers are over 65 and more than three quarters have never switched provider.
Landline customers who currently pay £18.99 a month will have their bills reduced to £11.99.
BT are said to have made the moved voluntarily following recommendations from the regulator.
It expects Virgin Media, Sky and the Post Office to follow suit, but so far non have said they will reduce charges.
TalkTalk withdrew from part of the market to concentrate on broadband and phone bundles.
Jonathan Oxley from Ofcom, said: “For many people, their landline is their lifeline. But households who only have a landline – and no broadband – have seen their phone bills soar.
"Many are elderly, and have been with BT for decades. We’ve been clear that they must get a better deal.
"So I’m pleased BT has responded to our plans in full by cutting these customers’ bills.”
A BT spokesman said: “We welcome a balanced voluntary agreement with Ofcom which means that up to 1m of our customers who don’t have broadband will receive a substantial cut in the price of their line rental from April 2018.
“We have listened to the concerns of our line-only customers and agreed to reduce the price of line rental for them by £7 a month, or £84 a year, which means they will only pay £11.99 a month for standard line rental.
“This will come in to effect from April 2018 for all landline-only customers who just take phone services from us and don’t have broadband (either with BT or someone else).
“We already offer low income customers on certain benefits a special tariff called ‘BT Basic’ and also offer Home Phone Saver that provides a great value bundle for customers who want a traditional phone service, with Anytime calls and other benefits.”
ARE YOU ELIGIBLE FOR THE BILL CUT?
UP to 1 million BT landline customers will see their bills cut by £7 per month thanks to the intervention from Ofcom.
Around 800,000 of these landline-only customers don’t have to do anything to claim this price cut – it will appear on their bills automatically. They will then be protected from real-term price increases, with line rental and call costs capped at the rate of inflation.
A further 200,000 customers on BT’s ‘Home Phone Saver’ package will also be eligible. This group of customers can choose to stay on their current package, or move to the standard product being cut, depending on which is the best deal for them.
If BT fails to honour its agreement, Ofcom will step in.
