Free weekend calls from BT (but line rentals rise and weekday charges rocket)

Homes signing up to a 12-month contract will also escape charges on weekdays. But the apparent giveaway has a sting in the tail: many of BT's other charges are soaring.

It is thought the company could earn as much as £80 million from the tariff shake-up.

Line rental is going up by £9 a year while most daytime calls will be 23 per cent more expensive.

Customers will be charged 4p a minute rather than 3.25p.

The company has scrapped its evening price cap so that an hour-long weekday call will now cost 90p rather than the previous 4.5p.

The company's new pricing plan is a response to a consumer shift away from landlines and toward mobile phones.

BT wants to revive the appeal of fixed-line services by offering better "all inclusive" packages under which customers pay a flat fee instead of being charged according to how long they spend on the phone.

Line rental is still, however, going up from £11 to £11.75. Customers who opt for paperless bills will pay £10.50.

BT - which is by far Britain's biggest telephone company - described the pricing plans as "a giveaway".

Gavin Patterson, the firm's managing director of customer services said: "Millions of people will see the price of their call plans fall while millions more will enjoy free weekend calls for the first time."

Consumer watchdogs were far less enthusiastic, claiming that most homes would pay more.

Steve Weller, of the price comparison site uSwitch.com, said the 10.8 million households using BT's most popular Together Option 1 are likely to be hardest hit.

He said: "From the beginning of April, they will see the cost of daytime calls rocket 23 per cent to four pence a minute.

"Those making evening calls more than three minutes long will also see the price rise - while these are currently capped at 4.5 pence an hour, from April 1st they will cost 1.5 pence a minute.

"BT is giving Option 1 customers the sweetener of free calls at the weekend, but whether this will be enough to pacify them when they open their April phone bill remains to be seen."

BT customers who chiefly use their landline to connect to the internet will pay more because of the hike in line rental.

The £11.75 montly charge is the highest of the major providers.

Virgin Media comes next at £11 with Tiscali and Pipex at £10.99.

Almost half of all home phone users are British Telecom customers and despite the discount for paperless billing, 60 per cent still prefer an invoice in the post.

Telecoms analysts expect rival companies to adjust their pricing plans in the wake of BT's announcement.

BT last increased its line rental charge in 2005, when it went from £10.50 a month to £11.

That October, BT changed the way it rounds up call charges, resulting in a £100 million increase in income.

Earlier in 2005 it brought forward the start of the more expensive peak-call period from 8am to 6am on weekdays.