Customers who take BT’s Line Rental Saver solution alongside their phone or broadband bundles, which allows you to save a fair bit of money by paying for a year’s line rental in advance, will be displeased to learn that the cost has just risen from £129 to £141 (up 9%). ISPs around the UK are likely to follow suit.
The move is not surprising as BT’s last hike in the cost of standard line rental, which saw the monthly price rise from £14.60 to £15.45 per month (the equivalent under Line Rental Saver is now £11.75), took place on 5th January 2013 (here) but it also left the price of their Line Rental Saver option untouched (possibly to make it appear more attractive).
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Since its introduction a few years ago the Line Rental Saver approach has been adopted by practically all of the markets largest providers and a few smaller operators. The solution has become a useful way of saving money off the increasingly expensive cost of standard monthly line rental, which often rises while the cost of broadband appears to either fall or remain stagnant.
A Spokeswoman for BT said:
“Line Rental Saver continues to offer a generous discount of 23% on the price of our standard line rental, saving customers £44 a year. This increase, which is the first for 14 months, does not affect existing Line Rental Saver customers. Customers who take standard line rental from BT will benefit from our price freeze until 2014.”
The move comes shortly after the launch of BT’s new BTSport TV service (here), which is now being offered for free alongside their broadband, phone and or TV bundles. This has naturally caused some people to speculate about a link between the two, which BT has strongly denied.
In fairness BT would probably have increased the cost anyway and in practice, whether intentional or not, there’s always a natural link if any change affects the total price that you pay for a bundle.
As usual it’s likely that other ISPs will follow suit over the coming months.
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