TalkTalk ads take aim at BT price rises

TalkTalk has launched a tactical advertising push taking aim at BT following the latter company’s confirmation last week it is increasing the price of broadband and phone packages by up to 6.5 per cent to help pay for its £1bn investment in BT Sport.

TalkTalk v BT ad

The ad campaign launched this weekend across outdoor and press and claims TalkTalk customers can save £250 over 18 months versus BT. It is a continuation of the company’s long-running “Britain’s better off with TalkTalk” positioning.

TalkTalk will hope the activity will keep the company’s value proposition front of mind and draw attention to its recently launched SimplyBroadband package, which offers what it claims is the UK’s lowest price unlimited broadband product at a headline price of £2.50 per month.

Last week BT started informing customers of the increases to its pricing, which take effect from 4 January. Price hikes include BT’s standard monthly line rental charge increasing from £15.45 to £15.99 per month and customers on its unlimited anytime plus, anytime and mobile and unlimited anytime packages rising by up to 6.4 per cent.

A BT spokesman told The Telegraph the increases could be justified by its investment in “sport and superfast broadband” and added: “They are not the only things. We have shareholders and dividends to pay”.

BT has spent around £1bn acquiring rights to broadcast live Premier League football and rugby games on its new BT Sport channels as well as signing star pundits and presenters such as Clare Balding, Jake Humphrey and Lawrence Dallaglio.

Now entering its third month since launch, BT Sport has attracted more than 1 million subscribers. 

From today (7 October), BT Sport is making its programming free-to-air across Freeview, BT TV, Sky and Virgin TV from 7pm Monday until Friday in the first two weeks of the month, a push it is calling “Open October” as it steps up its bid to take on Sky. At the end of the month, BT Sport will make its channels free to air during the weekend where it will be airing live Aviva Premiership rugby and Crystal Palace versus Arsenal in the Barclays Premier League.

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