Last updated on February 6th, 2020 at 03:14 pm
BT, the largest telecoms company in the United Kingdom, is continuing its expansion with the roll-out of new pay monthly mobile services.
The service will offer customers smartphones from Apple, Samsung and other leading mobile phone brands. This may seem confusing to some since BT recently purchased the mobile phone network EE for £12.5bn. However, BT is simply expanding its already ironclad stronghold on the British telecommunications market by offering these pay monthly tariffs for a little as £20 a month.
This new launch may anger those who are already concerned that BT hold a monopoly on the UK telecoms market with 121 Members of Parliament criticising the amount of taxpayer money spent ensuring that BT remains on top. Back in February there were calls for BT to be forced to split from Openreach to allow other networks to provide cheaper and more competitive services for their customers. Sky accused BT of underinvestment in fibre optic broadband leaving their competitors unable to provide adequate services reliant on BT’s network of cables. Some even went as far as describing BT’s reign as a “digital apartheid”. Ofcom, the independent regulator, reviewed the situation and decided, much to the disappointment of Sky, TalkTalk and other service providers, that BT could remain with Openreach.
Since then, BT have released these pay monthly contracts alongside their SIM-only offers which start from £5 a month. Since pay monthly contracts are continuing to rise, and discounts offered to existing customers, this move may turn out to be very successful for BT as they retain their current customers and entice new ones to join.
BT added that the next stage in this expansion of its mobile network would be pushed by a, “nationwide advertising campaign on television, radio, billboards and social media”. It’s clear that a lot of money is being pumped into this new mobile network contract service in the hope that BT can keep up with its rivals such as 02 and Vodafone who already dominate the mobile market.
Some are left wondering what this new service will mean for the EE brand with suggestions that it will simply fall away under the BT Group umbrella. What’s certain is that BT is now no longer the main player in just traditional telecoms; with the power behind the BT brand they’re expanding into the field of mobile at full force.