Regular users of the Internet at home will know to their cost just how easy it is to start totting up large 'phone bills as a result. Customers saw potential relief and savings all round as a result of the battle for market share between the ISPs (Internet Service Providers).

Several months ago, we reported on ntl's new offer of unlimited surf time. The Guardian today reports that there are a number of disgruntled customers still awaiting the CDROM they need in order to use the service, and the advertising standards authority has received 144 official complaints about the way the service has been advertised. ntl say the problem has been caused by the fact that they did not anticipate the level of demand, and as a result have been limiting the number of CDROMs they send out.

The most recent development has been the news that apparently ISP provider Breathe has disconnected users from its unlimited surf time for using the web too much! Again, the ISP says this also due to its lack of capacity to deal with heavier users, and the fact that there have been businesses taking advantage of what is supposed to be a domestic service.

All in all, it looks as though it will be a few months yet before all the glitches are ironed out, disgruntled customers are pacified, and the ISPs are actually able to deliver what they say they are able to deliver.

It's worth checking out our sister site AccountingWeb for a useful report on the current situation with ISPs and unmetered access.