BT customers face inflation-busting price hikes to pay for BT Sport

BT has paid £1.2billion for exclusive TV rights to European football as millions of customers face inflation-busting price hikes.



The telecoms giant, which is positioning itself as a major sports broadcaster, outbid rivals at Sky.

BT will pay £394million a year for the right to cover the Champions League and Europa League until 2021 – despite fears over falling viewing figures.

The deal is almost £100million a year more than its current arrangement for high-profile live games.

It appears that the massive increase is being passed on to customers, whether they like sport or not.

Both BT and Sky, which is paying billions for Premier League games, have imposed a series of inflation-beating price rises across their services in recent years. Customers and consumer groups have blasted BT for putting up charges three times in just 18 months.

The latest increase – of about 5-6 per cent – will come into force from April 2. Basic broadband customers will pay £2 more a month and BT Infinity fibre customers an extra £2.50. Standard landline and mobile calls will go up 1p per minute to 12p and 16p respectively. BT Sport, previously included as a free extra, will now cost BT TV customers £3.50 a month or £42 for a yearly subscription from next season.

The firm’s anytime call plans will increase by 49p from £8.99 a month, with evening and weekend call plans up 30p to £3.80 per month.

Experts said the only beneficiaries of price rises at BT and Sky appears to be those who like sport, particularly football.

Broadband expert at uSwitch.com, Ewan Ewan Taylor-Gibson, said: ‘In return for these price increases, consumers will quite rightly expect to see their service vastly improved although, when it comes to TV content, it appears only sports fans are going to be happy.’ UK television ratings for the live coverage of Champions League games have nosedived since it moved to BT. It was previously shared by Sky and ITV.

BT will pay an average of £1.1million per game for the 343 European games over a season.

Paolo Pescatore, of tech analysts CCS Insight, warned that the move would be ‘worrying’ for BT’s millions of customers.

It's the reason I dumped BT when I did!

To me they are all not far off one another in my opinion robbing ........