BT cuts the cost of calling mobiles from landlines

BT has announced that from 28 May it will make significant cuts to the cost of landline to mobile phone calls. This announcement follows BT’s leading role in the Terminate the Rate campaign, which helped persuade Ofcom to lower mobile termination rates.

In the evening, the cost of calling a mobile on all major networks from a BT landline will fall from 7p per minute to 5.3p, a 24 per cent cut. During the day, the cost will fall from 13p per minute to 11.3p, a 13 per cent cut. This announcement adds extra pressure on companies such as Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media who have yet to pass on the savings achieved through the Terminate the Rate (TTR) campaign.

Virgin in particular currently charges 31.61p per minute for daytime calls to customers on 3’s network and 19.35p per minute for daytime calls to other mobile operators. This is in contrast to BT’s new, lower charges for daytime calls to any mobile (11.3p), which are around 64 per cent less than Virgin charges for calls to customers of 3 and 42 per cent less than it charges for calls to other networks. As for evening calls, Virgin charges 24.46p per minute for calls to customers on 3’s network and 14.25p per minute for calls from landlines to mobiles. This is up to 78 per cent higher than the new BT price (5.3p) for evening calls.

The Terminate the Rate campaign, led by BT and 3, highlighted the excessive termination charges levied by some mobile operators when people called customers on their networks, meaning customers paid more than they should. The campaign led to Ofcom cutting these rates and, as promised, BT is now passing on the first of those savings to our customers. Other companies have yet to say if they will follow BT in doing this. BT is also planning to launch the UK’s first ever all-you-can-eat calls package that includes calls to mobiles.

John Petter, managing director, Consumer, at BT said: “Having campaigned for two years to get Ofcom to lower mobile termination rates, I am delighted to pass on the news that calls to mobile phones from a BT landline are to cost a great deal less. We are passing on Ofcom’s reduction and what’s more we’ll soon be telling customers how they can stop worrying about call charges from landlines to mobiles with a new, inclusive consumer calling package. Watch this space.

“In the mean time, we are naming and shaming Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media who will be charging so much more than BT for calling mobiles. And we call upon them to give what over 160,000 members of the British public, 65 public sector organisations, unions and consumer groups and 262 MPs asked for in the Terminate the Rate Campaign: lower charges for landline calls to mobiles.”

For more information, visit BT.com.