BT warns customers ‘all information will be deleted’ as free broadband perk is closing down – 4 alternatives to try now
BT has warned customers that a bonus perk with their broadband subscription will be ending in a few months.
And users of the service have not welcomed the announcement, complaining online that “it’s shameful”.
“My contract ends in October, so time to move to another ISP,” one affected customer wrote online.
The telecoms giant is shutting down its BT Cloud offering, which allows users to back-up their photos and videos at no extra cost.
It served as an alternative to Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and Apple iCloud.
But BT has started alerting customers, saying they will need to download their files soon before “all information will be deleted”.
The platform will shutdown for good at the end of October.
“From 31 October 2024, our BT Cloud will close, and all information will be deleted,” the company wrote on its forum.
“We’ll start reaching out to customers to let them know that the BT Cloud is closing and advise them to download/move their data.”
Users can continue backing up data on the service for now but on September 9 it’ll become read-only, meaning you can only access existing uploads but you can’t add anymore.
“Content will still be viewable, and available to download, but you won’t be able to upload anything new,” the company continued.
“If you pay for additional storage, you won’t be charged from 9 September 2024.”
In a statement to The Sun, a BT spokesperson said all existing BT Cloud customers will be contacted from July 15 to make them aware of the closure and explain the steps they need to take to download their data before the service closes.
“BT Cloud customers will have plenty of time to retrieve their data and find a new cloud service that suits their needs,” they said.
Free cloud storage alternatives
While you won’t get as much storage as BT Cloud offered, there are plenty of free alternatives around to consider.
- Google Drive – 15GB
- Microsoft OneDrive – 5GB
- Apple iCloud – 5GB
- Amazon – 5GB
If you subscribe to Amazon Prime, you get free unlimited photo storage as part of your account, so this could be worth considering.