Come April 1, Cable and Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) will hike line rental fees by 40 per cent for residential customers.

The telecommunications firm announced yesterday it would be increasing its line rental fees for both residential and business customers.

This will see residential customers paying $700 a month, $200 more than they previously did. Business line rentals, including PBX trunk lines, national and international toll-free lines and direct inward-dialling lines, will move from $1,250 monthly to $1,600.

"A rate increase of any kind for our customers is regrettable, but in this case, due to inflationary pressures and increasing operational costs, they are inescapable," said Mark Brunwin, chief marketing officer at C&WJ, in a release.

According to Brunwin, this was the first rental increase since March 2004, despite increases in the cost of providing fixed-line services due to high rates of inflation.