BT announces call changes

BT Group PLC 4 December 2001 December 4 2001 BT ANNOUNCES UNLIMITED FREE UK CALLS FROM 2002 FOR OVER 19 MILLION CUSTOMERS - an extension of the BT Together family - BT today unveiled plans to offer customers unlimited free UK calls at evenings and weekends1 from 7 January 2002. The new, competitively priced package, BT Together with unlimited UK calls, becomes a new option in the popular BT Together2 range, including line rental and a range of further discounts for a regular payment of just £18.50 a month. The new options now available within the BT Together scheme are: * BT Together with unlimited UK calls: £18.50 per month including line rental, unlimited free evening calls to all land line national and local numbers and discounted rates at other times. * BT Together with unlimited UK and surf calls: £23.50 per month including line rental, unlimited free evening calls to all land line national and local numbers plus unlimited off peak Internet calls (to SurfTime numbers) and discounted rates at other times. The new packages become available to BT customers from 7 January 2002 and are expected to be highly popular with customers. The unlimited UK calls package offers over 4000 hours of free national calls for every BT customer - within the flat monthly fee. This extension to the BT Together family is another example of BT delivering even greater value for money and choice to its UK customer base, further strengthening its already highly competitive position in the UK residential market. Around 10 million people already use existing BT Together packages, giving them a wide choice in discounted calling options to match their lifestyles and individual patterns of phone and Internet use. A further three million customers are benefiting from BT Answer 1571, a free answering service launched by BT in July. Along with the existing unlimited free local and Internet calling schemes, the new national calls package will offer discounted local, international, and home-to-mobile phone calls during the daytime. It will be a particular benefit to the 21 million full time workers in the UK who make the majority of their personal calls during their free time at evenings and weekends. Angus Porter, managing director of BT Retail's consumer division, commented: 'This move transforms the face of call charging in the UK for good. Unlimited free UK calls bring great value for households across the country and it's another example of BT listening to its customers.' He added: 'The combination and choice of our enhanced BT Together packages and services such as our entertainment deals with Sky digital and ITV Digital and our free answering service, BT Answer 1571, show that BT is serious in its ambition to become the UK s leading communications retailer.' Inquiries about this news release should be made to the BT Group Newsroom on its 24-hour number: 020 7356 5369. From outside the UK dial + 44 020 7356 5369. All news releases can be accessed at our website: http://www.btplc.com/mediacentre NOTES TO EDITORS 1 Unlimited weekday calling is available from 6pm to 8am; unlimited weekend calling starts at midnight on Fridays and is available until midnight on Sundays 2 In addition to the basic BT Together discount package (excluding call allowance), the BTT benefits can be combined with additional options in any of the following combinations: BT Together with Unlimited Local Calls BT Together with Unlimited UK Calls BT Together with Unlimited Surf Calls BT Together with Unlimited Local & Surf Calls BT Together with Unlimited UK & Surf Calls * Customers will not be charged for the first hour of either a 'local or UK unlimited' voice call. Thereafter, a charge of 1p per minute applies for the rest of the call, if it is during the off-peak period, but there is no minimum charge. Applies only to BT Together packages with an unlimited voice calling element. In order to ensure the highest possible quality of service for all our customers, we have imposed a duration limit of one hour. Customers can redial as many times as they like. Over 99 per cent of local evening and weekend calls are under 60 minutes in duration. Minimum call charge of 5p applies where calls start outside this period. * Lo-call (e.g 0845) numbers, Internet calls and National non-geographic numbers eg those prefixed. 0870 are not included within the unlimited local and national call packages and are charged at normal rates. * Customers not paying by either monthly payment plan or direct debit will pay an additional £1 a month * All metered calls are subject to a minimum call charge of 5p. ANNEX SHOWING BT TOGETHER OPTIONS ANNEX: For £11.50 a month all BT Together customers get: Great national / local call savings * No inland call will cost more than 4p a minute (5p minimum charge) * Discounted call charges compared to standard call rates Reduced international & mobile calls * 13 of our top International routes are just 9p per minute at evenings and weekends * All Fixed to mobile calls are from just 8p per minute Friends and Family Overseas * Save 10% on 5 international numbers when you nominate them as Friends and Family Overseas numbers Line Rental * BT Together includes line rental for one standard BT line Call Allowance * If all you want is BT Together without adding any of the unlimited call or surf options then you will also receive a call allowance of £2.40 per month *Call allowance not available with any unlimited call or surf options BT Together customers can also choose from the following options: BT Together with Unlimited Local Calls £14.50 IN TOTAL * Unlimited free local evening & weekend calls BT Together with BT Together with Unlimited Surf Calls £14.50 IN TOTAL * Unlimited free evening & weekend Internet calls BT Together with Unlimited UK Calls £18.50 IN TOTAL * Unlimited free UK evening & weekend calls BT Together with Unlimited Local & Surf calls £19.50 IN TOTAL * Unlimited free local evening & weekend calls and Internet calls BT Together with Unlimited UK & Surf calls £23.50 IN TOTAL * Unlimited free UK evening & weekend calls and Internet calls All prices given above include VAT. and include £1 discount for payment by MPP /DD

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