BT cuts residential voice calls

BT has announced price cuts which it says will make bills easy to compare and mean savings as compared to rival services.

The telco is getting rid of its standard rate for residential customers and lowering prices on its three BT Together plans.

Just yesterday the UK Public Accounts Committee criticised BT and former regulator Oftel for confusing consumers.

However, with an early bird conference call this morning BT is clearly fighting back, in particular against cable companies that have long claimed to offer better value voice calls.

In an accompanying statement the telco said: "The plans will make BT cheaper for most UK calls than its major cable rivals. And even where some of its main non-cable rivals are cheaper for some UK calls, any differences per month in customer bills are likely to be minimal."

Customers moving from the scrapped standard rate will go to BT Together Option 1 where they will pay 3p per minute in the daytime and 5.5p for up to an hour long call in the evenings and at weekends. Full details are available from the BT.com website.

Ovum analyst Angel Dobardziev said the cuts are in response to aggressive pricing from the likes of Carphone Warehouse and Tele2 and means the telco is "taking on the competition head on, not shying from engaging in what is rapidly turning into a price war on fixed calls".

Meanwhile, BT has also raised directory enquiry (DQ) calls to 40p from 25p. Following market deregulation that was phased in up until last August the field of 118 providers has thinned and several of those left have raised charges. BT was the former monopoly provider of DQ services.