BT yesterday announced a new package of offers to cut the price of its

telephone calls. From July, the company will increase the time allowed

per unit for calls to North America and Europe.

The move means a fiveminute cheap rate call to France, for instance,

will cost #1.26 instead of #1.39, excluding VAT.

BT said customers would also benefit from an automatic discount once

their bill reached #50. Previously, phone users had to run up a bill of

#75 or more to qualify for the discount. Phone watchdog Oftel said the

offers would have little effect on people who did not use their phone

frequently.

It calculated the total effect of this year's price changes by BT --

the company announced others in January -- would be to increase the bill

of a typical residential customer by 2.3%, 1.6% below inflation. BT is

tied to a formula which restricts its price increases to the inflation

rate minus 6.25%.