BT says it will offer its new sports channels to owners of retail YouView boxes after customer complaints.
Last week the ISP announced its three new channels would be provided free to broadband customers, including those receiving its BT Infinity service.
The channels will offer sports fans 38 Barclays Premier League matches per season, exclusive Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) coverage and 800 hours of live tennis, including the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships.
Broadband customers with BT Vision and Sky+ boxes, PCs tablets and YouView boxes will all be able to receive the channels at no cost. Those registering before the August 1st launch will also receive the channels in HD free for 12 months
However following the media launch, BT’s website said YouView owners wanting to take up the offer “need to have bought your YouView box directly from BT”.
This condition, confirmed by BT’s call centres and Twitter support team, meant owners who’d purchased their boxes from retailers would be excluded from receiving the channels.
News of the exclusion prompted complaints on the BT and YouView support forums.
BT has now said it will provide a “technical solution” to allow retail box owners who also have BT infinity to receive the channels on the same terms as other broadband customers.
In a statement the company said: “We do intend to make BT Sport available to YouView retail customers who have BT infinity, and to make this available in time for the launch of BT Sport in August.
“These customers should call us, we will register their details and will contact them again when the technical solution is available.”