BT set to hike broadband and mobile prices to pay for 5G rollout
Prices could rise when BT moves from 4G to 5G mobile speeds and from copper broadband to fibre
MILLIONS of BT customers could see prices rise in future, the telecoms company has warned.
The firm’s finance director, Simon Lowth, says he expects the price of new products to rise over time to meet the cost of providing faster broadband and mobile data speeds.
BT says there are no plans to increase prices at present but Mr Lowth says this could change when BT moves from 4G to 5G mobile speeds and from copper broadband to fibre.
Mr Lowth also told that he expects all households will eventually be forced to switch to fibre broadband.
There is already a £15 a month price difference between BT’s broadband packages, as while both copper and fibre start from £29.99 a month, fibre prices can rise by up to £54.99 a month during the first 18 months.
And monthly costs can increase even further once customers are outside of their contract’s minimum term.
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THE best way to beat the loyalty premium is to check if you can switch and save.
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Meanwhile 5G is currently being trialled and is expected to launch in major cities this summer on the EE network, which is owned by BT.
Mr Lowth told The Mail on Sunday: “To bring customers the volume and speed of data that they increasingly look for, we would need to see the price they pay go up over time.
“So when we move from 4G to 5G on mobile or from old copper broadband to fibre, we would expect to see the price that people pay go up.”
But BT has told The Sun that prices will remain frozen until the end of this year for both new and existing broadband, line rental and mobile users.
This was a promise it made to users back in January, which also saw it vow to increase prices for new and renewing broadband, line rental and mobile customers just once a year in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation.
Previously BT upped prices wily nily.
It last hiked landline, broadband and TV sport package prices in September 2018 by up to a whopping 40 per cent.
Haggle for a better deal
IF you want to stick with your existing provider, try haggling for a better deal.
Which? found that customers who haggled managed to knock the following off their bills:
- BT customers saved £210 (29 per cent) a year on average
- Sky customers saved £120 a year (21 per cent) a year on average
- Virgin Media customers saved £180 (19 per cent) a year on average
This was the SECOND price hike landline, broadband and BT Sport customers faced as bills rose by up to 33 per cent from January 2018.
BT’s price freeze doesn’t apply to mobile provider EE, which upped prices by 2.7 per cent for millions from March 31.
Meanwhile loyal EE customers who joined the mobile provider more than five years ago will be hit with average bill hikes of 2.4 per cent from June 1.
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