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| BT Sport: what you will pay | BT Sport: what you will pay |
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| BT has announced that its broadband customers will get free access to its three sports channels from 1 August. | BT has announced that its broadband customers will get free access to its three sports channels from 1 August. |
| What sport will be available? | What sport will be available? |
| BT is offering three channels – BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN – which will show a range of sport from football to women's tennis. The broadcaster has the rights to show 38 Premier League football matches and exclusive rights to show live games from rugby's Aviva Premiership. There will also be some FA Cup games and Scottish Premier League games. | BT is offering three channels – BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN – which will show a range of sport from football to women's tennis. The broadcaster has the rights to show 38 Premier League football matches and exclusive rights to show live games from rugby's Aviva Premiership. There will also be some FA Cup games and Scottish Premier League games. |
| If you're a football fan you will probably want to run BT Sports alongside your existing Sky Sports package, if you have one. If you are a rugby fan you might just want BT Sports. | If you're a football fan you will probably want to run BT Sports alongside your existing Sky Sports package, if you have one. If you are a rugby fan you might just want BT Sports. |
| How much will I have to pay? | How much will I have to pay? |
| If you are a new customer the monthly cost of taking broadband from BT is £10 on copper broadband or £15 on superfast fibre broadband with capped usage, or £16 a month for unlimited usage. On top of that you will also face a line rental charge of £15.45. To get the sports offer you have to commit to a 12-month contract. Anyone who signs up before 1 August when the channels go live will get free HD channels for a year; those who sign up afterwards will need to pay £3 a month. | If you are a new customer the monthly cost of taking broadband from BT is £10 on copper broadband or £15 on superfast fibre broadband with capped usage, or £16 a month for unlimited usage. On top of that you will also face a line rental charge of £15.45. To get the sports offer you have to commit to a 12-month contract. Anyone who signs up before 1 August when the channels go live will get free HD channels for a year; those who sign up afterwards will need to pay £3 a month. |
| When you join you will need to pay £6.95 P&P for the hub. That will be enough to let you watch the channels online. If you want to watch via your TV you will need to get BT TV. This costs £199 upfront with no contract, or £49 if you sign up for a TV package. The cheapest package is £5 a month and you need to sign up for a year. Signing up for BT Infinity, the package delivered through the fibre optic network, means an additional upfront "activation cost" of £30, while the alternative – watching through the TV aerial – will require you to buy a card for £10. Upfront costs can add up to more than £80. | When you join you will need to pay £6.95 P&P for the hub. That will be enough to let you watch the channels online. If you want to watch via your TV you will need to get BT TV. This costs £199 upfront with no contract, or £49 if you sign up for a TV package. The cheapest package is £5 a month and you need to sign up for a year. Signing up for BT Infinity, the package delivered through the fibre optic network, means an additional upfront "activation cost" of £30, while the alternative – watching through the TV aerial – will require you to buy a card for £10. Upfront costs can add up to more than £80. |
| I'm already with BT for broadband and TV, will I get the channels automatically? | I'm already with BT for broadband and TV, will I get the channels automatically? |
| No. You will need to commit to a 12-month broadband contract to get it, so you have to actively opt in to receive them. If, for example, you have two months left on an existing contract it can just be extended to 12 months; if you are two months into an 18-month contract you don't need to make any extra commitments. | No. You will need to commit to a 12-month broadband contract to get it, so you have to actively opt in to receive them. If, for example, you have two months left on an existing contract it can just be extended to 12 months; if you are two months into an 18-month contract you don't need to make any extra commitments. |
| I'm with BT for broadband but have a Freeview box. What will I pay? | I'm with BT for broadband but have a Freeview box. What will I pay? |
| You can watch the sports channels on your iPad or PC for free through an app. If you want to watch on your TV you will need a set-top box. This costs £199 upfront with no contract, or £49 if you sign up for a TV package. The cheapest is £5 a month and you need to sign up for a year. There are also upfront activation costs (see above). | You can watch the sports channels on your iPad or PC for free through an app. If you want to watch on your TV you will need a set-top box. This costs £199 upfront with no contract, or £49 if you sign up for a TV package. The cheapest is £5 a month and you need to sign up for a year. There are also upfront activation costs (see above). |
| I'm with BT for broadband but have a Sky box. What will I pay? | I'm with BT for broadband but have a Sky box. What will I pay? |
| You can watch BT Sports through your Sky box for free. You just need to call and request it, giving the details of your set-top box. | You can watch BT Sports through your Sky box for free. You just need to call and request it, giving the details of your set-top box. |
| I'm with Sky for broadband, phone and TV. What would I pay to get the BT channels? | I'm with Sky for broadband, phone and TV. What would I pay to get the BT channels? |
| It depends what you want to do. BT and Sky have done a deal to show each others channels, so you could stay with Sky and add the BT Sports package to your existing deal. This will cost £12 a month, or £15 if you want HD channels. | It depends what you want to do. BT and Sky have done a deal to show each others channels, so you could stay with Sky and add the BT Sports package to your existing deal. This will cost £12 a month, or £15 if you want HD channels. |
| If you decide to switch entirely you won't need to pay for a new phone line, but you will need to pay for a new BT set-top box and pay all the activation costs detailed earlier. The cost of your line rental will also increase from £14.50 a month with Sky to £15.45 a month with BT, as will the cost of broadband, from £7.50 with Sky to £16 with BT. | |
| However, BT is offering free broadband for six months, and as such over the first year it claims that the full phone, broadband and TV package will cost £134.65 a year less. After that you will pay £76.50 a month to get a full package including Sky and BT's sports channels from Sky, and £73.95 a month to get it from BT. | However, BT is offering free broadband for six months, and as such over the first year it claims that the full phone, broadband and TV package will cost £134.65 a year less. After that you will pay £76.50 a month to get a full package including Sky and BT's sports channels from Sky, and £73.95 a month to get it from BT. |
| A third option is to keep your Sky TV package and box and to move your phone and broadband. For that your only upfront cost will be £6.95 P&P for the hub. | |
| I'm with Virgin Media for everything. What would I pay to get BT Sports? | I'm with Virgin Media for everything. What would I pay to get BT Sports? |
| Unfortunately at the moment you can't add BT Sports to your Virgin Media TV package, so you need to switch provider entirely if you want the deal. You will need a new phone line, which means an upfront charge of £30, and your line rental will go up from £14.99 a month to £15.45 (although you can reduce that to £10.75 if you pay for a whole year in advance). | Unfortunately at the moment you can't add BT Sports to your Virgin Media TV package, so you need to switch provider entirely if you want the deal. You will need a new phone line, which means an upfront charge of £30, and your line rental will go up from £14.99 a month to £15.45 (although you can reduce that to £10.75 if you pay for a whole year in advance). |
| BT claims its total monthly cost of a TV, phone and broadband package including Sky Sports is £55.45, while with Virgin Media it is £66.74. If you wanted a package with TV, broadband and phone and just BT's sports channels, not Sky's, it would cost £35.45 a month at BT. | BT claims its total monthly cost of a TV, phone and broadband package including Sky Sports is £55.45, while with Virgin Media it is £66.74. If you wanted a package with TV, broadband and phone and just BT's sports channels, not Sky's, it would cost £35.45 a month at BT. |
| Is this just a one-year deal or will I have to pay next season? | Is this just a one-year deal or will I have to pay next season? |
| BT says it has no plans to charge for sports next season, but the free HD offer will end after a year. After that, customers who want to continue with HD will pay £3 a month. The company has Premier League football rights for three years and the rugby rights for four years. | BT says it has no plans to charge for sports next season, but the free HD offer will end after a year. After that, customers who want to continue with HD will pay £3 a month. The company has Premier League football rights for three years and the rugby rights for four years. |
| Should I be worried about switching provider? | Should I be worried about switching provider? |
| We have had lots of complaints from readers who have tried to get BT phone lines fixed or installed in recent months, so you would be right to have reservations. However, BT says it has taken on new call centre staff and engineers to cope with the demand it expects, but if you want to make sure you get the channels in time for the start of the football season you would be wise not to leave it until the last minute. | We have had lots of complaints from readers who have tried to get BT phone lines fixed or installed in recent months, so you would be right to have reservations. However, BT says it has taken on new call centre staff and engineers to cope with the demand it expects, but if you want to make sure you get the channels in time for the start of the football season you would be wise not to leave it until the last minute. |