The telecoms giant said it is directly notifying 390,000 business customers with fewer than 10 employees, while larger firms will be informed about the price rises via bills between now and May.

If you’re a BT Business customer, here’s what you need to know about the changes:

• Line Rental – going up by about 6% across ordinary PSTN lines, ISDN2 and ISDN 30 lines.
• Broadband – existing legacy broadband prices will be going up by an average of 6% but there will be no change for current broadband prices. Legacy products include BT Business Broadband Advance, BT Business Broadband Advance Support, BT Business Broadband Office, BT Business Broadband Office Unlimited, BT Business Total Broadband Options 1, 2 and 3.
• Lines service care – rental charges will go up by an average 6% across Total Care, Critical Care, Prompt Care and Total Care Priority Fault Repair business continuity products.
• Calls package fees – calls packages across BT Business Complete and One Plan are going up by either £1 or £1.50.
• Capped call costs – BT’s removing the cap on the cost of calls across all of its packages.
• Inclusive call allowance – this will reduce from 500 mins to 200 mins for BT Business Complete and for BT One Plan inclusive variants from 200 mins down to 100 mins.

Don’t take price rises lying down

Anders Nilsson, a spokesman for Gocompare.com, said: “You don’t need to take price increases lying down. If you’re not happy, shop around for a deal that offers the broadband speed and call package that you need at a price you’re more comfortable with, and then switch if necessary. BT have to allow customers who are affected by price changes to end their contract without penalty but you have to do it before 1 May 2016.

“If you’re not with BT and this news has prompted you to look for a better deal on your business broadband, make sure you check the terms and conditions of your contact so that you don’t get stung by any cancellation fees if you decide to leave early.”

Products reviewed so they remain ‘competitive’

A BT spokesperson said: “BT is aware that businesses will not welcome price rises, but we have to review our offerings to ensure that our products remain competitive and that we can invest in the future of the company. This enables us to continue to offer things like fibre broadband and superior service at competitive prices.

“BT Business is trusted by more businesses than any other UK ISP with the vital line and broadband services that keep businesses running efficiently. Our business class broadband is 99.99% reliable.”

BT last announced business price rises this time last year.