The move comes after mounting pressure from the government to reduce the cost of using the internet in order to spur the development of online services.

Unmetered access means that people can surf the net for as long as they wish without worrying about the mounting costs.

The existence of this system in the US is seen as reason why twice as many people use it.

Under BT's proposed new service, BT Surftime, customers could gain unlimitedaccess to the internet at off-peak weekday times for £6.99 per month, or £14.99 for weekend and off-peak usage.

Full unmetered access, without any restrictions, would be available for£34.99, under proposals which could come into effect in January, subject to regulatory approval.

BT will also offer other tariffs.

The move follows action by Oftel to allow internet service providers to choose what the pence per minute call rate for their customers should be, rather than charging the current local call rate.

UK companies rival US in embracing e-commerce

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