BT has announced it will launch a 4K set-top box this summer as it ramps up its coverage of European football. The company says it will launch a BT Sport Ultra HD channel in time for the start of the new football season in August, which will require the new hardware.
The 4K box is part of a revamp of BT's Sport channels, which sees BT broadband customers lose out on some of the sports coverage they are currently receiving for free.
Under the new deal, BT Broadband customers will have to pay an extra £5 per month if they want to continue receiving all of BT's Sport coverage, including the European Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup matches. BT will still offer BT Sport 1 for free to its broadband customers, but they will no longer get the FA Cup or Moto GP coverage that was included in the deal this season, nor the new Champions League matches. Customers who take BT TV will get all the sports channels as part of their package.
BT spent almost £1 billion wrestling the rights for Champions League football from Sky, clearly forcing the company to stop giving away all of its sports coverage for free to BT Broadband customers. The company insists customers are still getting a good deal, however. "When we launched BT Sport we promised to make televised football far more accessible and affordable than it has been to date," says BT Consumer chief executive, John Petter. "We have opened the market to millions of new customers and we want to build on that as BT Sport becomes the undisputed home of European football."
"We are of course giving our best offer to existing customers – broadband customers will get the new BT Sport Pack for the heavily discounted price of £5 whilst customers who take broadband and TV from us will get it absolutely free."
BT will write to all existing customers explaining the new offer, a BT spokesperson told Expert Reviews. The company has yet to reveal the price of the 4K set-top box or the Sport Ultra HD channel.
