UK telecommunications company BT has denied a series of price rises for its customers are linked to the launch of pay-television platform BT Sport, according to the Daily Mail newspaper.
The report said that prices of monthly packages for BT’s 10 million customers will increase by up to 6.5 per cent from January 4.
Penalty fees for leaving a contract early are set to rise by as much as 30 per cent, while standard line rental, which is paid on top of any telephone or broadband internet package, will rise by 3.5 per cent from £15.45 (€18.4/$24.6) to £15.99 a month. The annual inflation rate currently stands at 2.7 per cent.
BT announced in August that more than one million households had signed up to BT Sport in its first three months of operation.
BT Sport is being offered for free with BT broadband. BT said BT Sport’s customer base has a mix of existing BT broadband customers – who have re-contracted their broadband for at least 12 months – and new broadband customers who have been attracted by BT Sport.
However, the Mail said that all BT customers will end up financing the BT Sport project through the price rises.
BT has defended the move, saying it has spent £2.5bn on developing its fibre-optic internet network across the country.
BT said in a statement: “These price changes are not linked to the launch of BT Sport. We revise our prices every year in what is an intensely competitive market and whilst some go up, others come down.”