After continuously denying that flat-rate charging was being considered, BT has announced that it is set to cut the cost of dial-up calls to the Internet with the introduction of BT Surftime - a range of new pricing options for unlimited Internet access. BT Surftime will apply both to consumers and small businesses, including customers on Home Highway and ISDN lines.

Bill Cockburn, group managing director of BT UK, said: "BT SurfTime is the most significant development for the Internet in the UK. It has been made possible through a major new network investment in addition to the hundreds of millions of pounds we have already invested."

Subject to satisfactory agreement with Oftel, BT Surftime will be available from Spring next year - and will consist of a range of unlimited usage packages for a single monthly fee.

The proposed BT Surftime options include a 6.99 per month charge for unlimited access either at the weekend or in the evening and at one penny per minute for other off-peak access and two pence per minute peak time. The Anytime Internet option at 34.99 per month will give you unlimited access at anytime, day, evening and night-time, and weekends.

Alternatively the 'pay-as-you-go' Internet option will give you Internet calls at one penny per minute evening, night-time and weekend as well as two pence per minute during the day.
BT
The Campaign for Unmetered Telecomminications (CUT) has expressed delight at the news, saying "we always said unmetered access simplified things!" However CUT points out that there are still questions to be answered and promises that it will continue to ask BT.