Price rise means BT customers are now paying 41 per cent more than a year ago

BT customers will be hit with a 9 per cent rise in the cost of calls from tomorrow which means the operator has increased prices by a total of 41 per cent in the past 12 months. 

The price of a telephone call will go up to 7.6p per minute - compared with just 5.4p a year ago and 7p at the moment.

Line rental bills are also increasing from £12.79 to £13.90. 

Broadband charges will also go up as well as the cost of phoning BT's answering service. 

Call connection fees will increase 34.4 per cent to 12.5p up from 9.3p at the beginning of the year. 

However other broadband and phone companies are also expected to increase their charges. 

Virgin Media increased its prices by 6 per cent earlier this year, and Sky will raise its charges in June although it has not yet said by how much. 

TalkTalk plans to raise call charges by 16 per cent and line rental by 2 per cent. 

Michael Phillips, a spokesman for price comparison site Homephonechoices.co.uk said the rises were disappointing. 

He said: 'Other suppliers will inevitably follow BT, as we saw with repeated copycat price rises in 2010. 

'This latest price increase will do little to ease the rising cost of living that UK customers are facing. 

'Customers wanting to stay with BT should review their calling patterns and seriously consider switching to an anytime calling plan.'

Another price comparison site uSwitch.com said its research showed BT customers were no longer happy with the service they are receiving. 

The detail of the BT price rises were included in a leaflet sent out with bills. 

A spokesman told the Express that millions of customers have signed up to their anytime calling plan and three-quarters of calls made on the network are now free.

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