New Price Changes

BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLC
2 September 1999
                            

                 SIMPLY GREAT NEW PRICE
                      DEALS FROM BT

BT today announced innovative changes to its prices for

residential customers.  Firstly all residential customers

will benefit from a call allowance*  and lower call

charges.  Secondly there will be a radical new pricing

deal that moves away from complex discount schemes and

introduces clear, simple low prices.

    From October 1 all residential customers* will

automatically get call time equivalent to three hours of

local weekend calls a quarter (or £1.80 a quarter in

monetary terms).  At the same time the cost of national

weekend calls will go down by more than 30 per cent to 2p

a minute.  The residential rental charge will go up by

the equivalent of just over a penny a day to £27.77 a

quarter from the same date.

     The second initiative comes on November 1 with the

launch of BT Together, an entirely new all-in-one choice for

residential customers.  It will cost £11.99 a month

including line rental.


     Under BT Together, customers will get  three times

more call time - £1.80 a month, equivalent to three hours

of local weekend calls.  Many standard call prices will

also be substantially cheaper under the package - for

example, the national daytime rate will be 50 per cent

cheaper at 4p a minute, down from 8p; national evening

calls 2p an minute, down from 4p; local evening calls 1p

a minute, down from 1.5p.  There are also substantial

reductions on the basic cost of calling many

international destinations and on calls to mobile phones.

Customers on BT Together will also pay only £49.50

connection charge for new lines - a saving of 50 per

cent.

     Bill Cockburn, group managing director of BT UK,

said: 'This is a fantastic step forward.  With these new

easy to remember prices we will be giving even better

value for money for millions of customers.

     'Under BT Together, customers will be able to surf

the net for a full hour on weekday evenings or weekends,

and still get change from 50p.'

      The quarterly business exchange line rental will go

up by 85p (excluding VAT) to £38.19 (excluding VAT) from

October 1.  This will be more than offset for many

customers by changes to BT's Business Advantage scheme -

the 99p subscription fee will be abolished, and the

discount on direct dialled local, national and

international calls will be increased from 11 per cent to

15 per cent.

          BT Together will also be available to customers

on Home Highway lines - the monthly fee will be £39.99,

including five hours a week of local evening or weekend

calls (equivalent to £13.00 a month).  The same new low

call prices apply as on ordinary lines.


* excludes customers on BT Low User Scheme, and BT In-

Contact


Notes to editors


            SUMMARY OF CHANGES TO BT'S BASIC
         RESIDENTIAL PRICES FROM OCTOBER 1, 1999
                        CURRENT PRICES      PRICES FROM
                                              1.10.99
     Line rental            £26.77            £27.77
  Call allowance**           none              £1.80
 Local weekend calls          1p                1p
  National weekend            3p                2p
        calls
 Local evening calls         1.5p              1.5p
  National evening            4p                4p
        calls
 Local daytime calls          4p                4p
  National daytime            8p                8p
        calls
   Minimum charge             5p                5p
   Additional line          £99.00            £99.00
     connection
**cannot be used for calls to mobile networks or premium
rate service calls; not available on Light User, In-
Contact or public payphone lines.


                            
                            
 SUMMARY OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BT STANDARD RESIDENTIAL
PACKAGE AND BT TOGETHER - AVAILABLE FROM NOVEMBER 1, 1999
                            
Standard quarterly rental: £27.77
BT Together monthly charge: £11.99 (£35.97 a quarter)
                            
                     Standard      BT Together   saving
                      package
call allowance**     60p/month     £1.80/month      
                   £1.80/quarter  £5.60/quarter
  Local weekend         1p             1p           -
      calls
National weekend        2p             2p           -
      calls
  Local evening        1.5p            1p          33%
      calls
National evening        4p             2p          50%
      calls
  Local daytime         4p             3p          25%
      calls
National daytime        8p             4p          50%
      calls
 Minimum charge         5p             5p           -
 Additional line      £99.00         £49.50        50%
   connection

**cannot be used for calls to mobile networks or premium
rate service calls; not available on Light User, In-
Contact or public payphone lines.


       International call prices under BT Together

There are substantial reductions in the basic cost of

many international calls under the new scheme.  For

example, weekend calls to the USA will be only 10p a

minute; daytime calls only 14p a minute.  Weekend calls

to France and Germany will be just 11p a minute, 15p a

minute in the evenings and 17p during the day.  And calls

to Australia and New Zealand will be only 17p a minute at

weekends.

Notes: All prices given above include VAT unless stated
otherwise.
          All calls subject to 5p minimum charge.

Full details of all the price changes that will come in
from October 1 and November 1 will be posted at BT's
pricing website: http://www.bt.com/Business/price_frm.htm