BSkyB and BT Sign Contract for Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 TV Channels

BT Group Plc, the U.K.’s largest phone company, signed an agreement with British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc to show the Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 channels and expand its television offering.

BT customers can sign up for the subscription channels from early July and view them from August 1, in time for the start of the Premier League soccer season on August 14, the company said in a statement today.

BT, based in London, increased broadband investment and expanded into television services to counter declining revenue at its fixed-line retail business. Prices for a package of sports channels will cost less than 20 pounds ($30) a month, BT Retail Chief Executive Officer Gavin Patterson said in May. The BT Vision service had 467,000 subscribers at the end of March.

“We are delighted to have reached this milestone, which means that we can be certain of offering Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 to our customers before the football season kicks off,” Patterson said today. “We know our customers will be keen to sign up for the two channels.”

To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Simon Thiel at sthiel1@bloomberg.net