BT moves in net price war

BT launched itself into the Internet price war today, unveiling arange of packages which it said were at least as cheap as thoseavailable in the US.

The offers for home Internet users include a fee of pounds 15.25per month for unlimited access at the weekend and evenings, and apounds 29.25 per month fee for unlimited round the clock access.

The range of offers, to be called SurfTime, includes the cost ofline rental and will be available from June 1.

The flat-rate packages are cheaper than those outlined by BT inDecember when it first announced plans for SurfTime.

The company has been driven to drop its rates after rival groupsunveiled plans for cut-price Internet access.

BT highlighted that its offers announced today included linerental and so involved 'no hidden charges'.

BT chairman Sir Iain Vallance denied that his company had beencaught cold by the cut-price offers from rivals.

Ball and chain

He said: 'One of the reasons why BT is not able to come out ofthe traps as quickly as we would like is because of the regulatorysystem under which we operate.

'We are running with a ball and chain around our legs. Until thatregulatory system is brought up to date we would not be able to moveas quickly as we would like.