3 October 2006
uSwitch has warned that over 13 million home phone customers are set to pay more to talk with the introduction of price increases from BT and TalkTalk.
The price comparison and switching website has highlighted that both BT and TalkTalk have moved onto per minute billing, which will add 28% and 30% respectively onto the price of daytime landline calls.
Changes to the BT pricing structure mean that for billing purposes, call charges will be rounded up to the nearest minute instead of the nearest second.
Chris Williams, uSwitch telecommunications expert, said: "BT is increasing bills by replacing per second billing with the old-fashioned and outdated per minute billing.
"BT's recent high profile promotion of their cost reduction exercise is now a seemingly redundant and hollow gesture for their millions of customers. TalkTalk has stuck by its promise 'to be cheaper than BT' but it is disappointing that they have mirrored these increases.
"Over 13 million customers will be affected by rising call costs. There is a wide range of choice in this highly competitive industry and in such a fast moving market we would urge everyone to make a habit of shopping around for the best deal. Households can save up to £120 per year by switching their home phone provider."
Use the uSwitch.com comparison and switching service to find the lowest cost for your calls and line rental.