The company is changing it daytime tariff so that calls made between 6am and 8am will be charged at the more expensive daytime rates. Whilst BT insist that the changes will have a 'minor impact' on the vast majority of their customers, independent tariff comparision company, uSwitch, estimate that three million BT customers will end up paying more for their early morning calls.
Jon Miller from uSwitch.com said, 'Despite BT's attempts to mask the increase in calling charges by highlighting earlier price reductions, this is effectively a stealth price rise. The fact remains that consumers will still be charged a minimum of £31.50 a quarter for line rental before they've even made a call. There are cheaper suppliers in the market, switching is easy and you can make significant savings by shopping around."
A BT spokesman claimed that three quarters of its customers don't make phone calls that early in the morning. He accepted it did amount to a price rise for 15% of customers, but denied it was done stealthily.