The  Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA) has warned that many small ISP's cannot absorb the latest price rises forced upon them by BT. The result is that may of them could be forced out of business.

Many SME (Small to Medium Enterprise) ISP's run on a very tight margin so raising the price charged to the consumer would be financial suicide, especially and the current trend is to reduce prices to the end user. Many of these ISP's have customers on annual price structures so passing on price hikes would be very difficult..

The options for SME ISPs appear limited but the ISPA sees three alternatives for small ISPs:

• ISPs may have to reassess their business plans and opportunities to grow their businesses
• ISPs may risk losing customers if their prices are increased in line with BT?s price rises
• ISPs may try not to pass price rises on to their customers but may have to downgrade their standards of service.

The ISPA is also calling on Ofcom, the industry regulator, to intervene in the dispute. It wants different charging structures between SME  and the larger ISP's, which seems very unlikely, and a relaxation of the 30 day notice of the payment increase.