ISP BT Hike Premium Email Price by 50% for non-Broadband Users

Customers of BT’s UK broadband products typically receive their email service at no extra cost, but if you want to retain this after leaving the ISP then you’d currently need to pay £5 per month for their Premium Email. Bad news though, on 22nd August 2018 that price will be hiked by 50% to £7.50.

According to a brief statement on BT’s website (posted here): “From 22 August 2018, the price you pay for your BT Premium Mail account will be changing to £7.50 a month. We’re in the process of writing to everyone affected by this change so they have time to consider their options.” Sadly this does not explain the reasoning for BT’s hike.

Leaving aside the fact this is more expensive than many dedicate email hosting solutions, which can provide better features, it almost feels like BT doesn’t want anybody using their premium email service. Equally those who have continued to use it after leaving may be somewhat of a captive market because changing address can involve a lot of administrative hassle, which the less technically minded will often pay to avoid.

The news follows hot on the heels of the operator’s latest round of price hikes (here), which marked their second batch of increases in the space of a single year and will thus do little to improve customer sentiment or growth. Meanwhile those affected can always re-join BT’s broadband service or swap their email addresses to another user’s BT broadband account (you’d have to be very trusting of them).

One thing on BT’s side is the fact that these days most consumers have wisely adopted free email solutions (e.g. Gmail, Hotmail etc.) and no longer tie themselves down to what a broadband ISP might offer. As a result we suspect that those who do use the Premium Mail service may reflect a dwindling number of subscribers (i.e. not enough to upset the ISP).

On top of that it’s long been a bit unwise to expect that an email service would continue for free after you decide to leave an ISP, although many providers have allowed this but such services don’t always last (in the past we’ve seen them being pulled at fairly short notice). As such it’s always wise to avoid using the email provided by a broadband ISP.

Nevertheless all these regular price hikes won’t be doing BT’s image any good, particularly since their broadband base actually declined by -3,000 in the last reported quarter.