BT finds good day to bury news of price hikes

The noise surrounding Donald Trump's inauguration won't stop questions being raised over whether the rises can really be justified given the state of Britain's digital infrastructure

BT Sport, and a whole lot more, is getting more expensive (Getty Images)

BT could hardly have timed its announcement of price hikes any better.

Friday is generally a good day to bury bad news, but with Donald Trump’s inauguration, made this particular Friday just about perfect.

I was told it wasn’t intentional, and the timing was set to reflect the fact that customers will receive letters informing them of the new tariffs on Monday. But even if that’s true, the happy accident surely ought to be worth a bonus for the PR department.

Particularly given the heat the price hikes might normally have injected into the ongoing controversy surrounding BT’s broadband infrastructure company OpenReach, that most other providers have to use to serve their customers. Not to mention the fierce debate about the state of Britain’s digital infrastructure more generally, and the feeling that the companies involved in it could do a lot more about improving it than they are doing.

For the record, BT’s broadband customers will see rises of between 5 and 6 per cent across their respective bundles. BT TV customers will pay £3.50 a month for BT Sport, which had been free for broadband customers. Landline customers will see the cost of their plans increased, call charges will rise by 1p a minute.

To soften the blow, line rental has been frozen at £18.99 and the cost of subscribing to BT TV held. BT Basic, aimed at lower income customers, has been frozen for three years. There are also plans to roll out automatic compensation when the company fails to live up to service commitments, and some other improvements and offers.

But BT should still have a care. The company will tell you these price rises are part of its retail business, and that its rivals have also raised their prices. True enough.

However, that won’t stop people asking where the money is going given the state of that digital infrastructure and the complaints about OpenReach, that rivals want spun off, and OfCom wants to see made a legally separate entity with its own board within the BT group.

You may remember that in December, the Government’s National Infrastructure Commission found that Britain has worse mobile internet coverage than Romania, Albania and Peru, and said the nation is languishing in the digital slow lane. Broadband coverage in rural areas remains patchy, complaints about OpenReach are common.

The customer is unlikely to see the distinction between the charges they pay for their retail service, and these wholesale issues. And why should they?

It won’t come as much comfort that BT isn’t alone in having questions to answer when it comes to mobile broadband. Its customers will just feel cross.

Who can blame them? Cross enough to make them forget about the Donald? Quite possibly. Even on a Friday.

The broadband and mobile telephony industries make huge profits. It is fair to wonder why more of those profits aren’t being invested into getting Britain’s digital infrastructure into better shape.

And why someone with authority doesn’t do something to force the issue. Someone, in regulation, or in Government, or in both.

The current situation is a disgrace, and this latest batch of price rises can only serve to underline that, regardless of any distinction between retail and wholesale, land based broadband, or mobile broadband, or the efforts BT has made to try and sweeten the pill.