UK media regulator Ofcom has issued a ruling after customers of telecommunications company BT complained that a £5 (€7/$8) monthly charge for its new BT Sport Europe pay-television channel represented an extra cost that hadn’t been previously agreed.
BT Sport Europe launched on August 1 as the new base of BT Sport’s European football coverage. The channel will be the home of BT Sport’s exclusive rights to the Champions League and Europa League, which the company will broadcast from 2015-16 to 2017-18, with certain other properties also moving across to BT Sport Europe from the BT Sport channels.
BT wrote to customers in June and July informing them that the £5 charge would be added to their bills from August 1 unless they contacted them by July 31 to downgrade to a new BT Sport Lite package – which carries BT Sport alone – or cancel their subscriptions.
BT Sport was previously free to BT broadband customers in a minimum term agreement. Although the BT Sport Pack remains free for its BT TV television customers that sign up to a further minimum term agreement, BT’s broadband-only users now have to pay £5 each month for the BT Sport Pack. Alternatively, they can receive BT Sport Lite for free.
Ofcom said in a statement: “Some customers complained to Ofcom that, unless they actively downgraded, they were being charged an extra cost that they hadn't previously agreed.”
Following Ofcom’s ruling, BT has agreed to give customers up to four weeks after they receive their first bill that includes the new £5 monthly charge to complain to the company. BT has also told Ofcom that it is planning to review the terms and conditions relating to the BT Sport contract.