Unmetered internet - breathe offers access for life

Internet service provider breathe has announced it will offer free online access for life, for a one-off charge of £50.

UK consumers can register for the service, which launches on 3 April, either online at breathe.net, or by obtaining a CD-Rom from outlets including Toys R Us and Kiss FM radio.

The announcement follows a number of unmetered announcements last week from Altavista, NTL, Virgin, Excite and others.

However, breathe chief operating officer Sean Gardner said the financial pressures of offering unmetered access would limit the number of players.

"This is going to be a tough market and we expect to see some of our competitors fall by the wayside," he said.

"Our model was developed in the belief that sooner or later, the metered call charge chains would be shattered. We applaud the fact that the UK government has recognised the first moves towards truly free access."

Last week Altavista ignited the unmetered and subscription-free internet access war when it announced that it would offer free internet access for a one-off fee of between £30 and £50 and an annual payment of £10 to £20. NTL quickly followed this by offering free and unmetered internet access in the UK for users of its phone service, with no annual charge.

BT also revised its Surftime service, offering ISPs a package of unmetered 56Kbps internet access at any time for £29.25 a month. ISPs that use Surftime can decide what price to charge consumers.

Breathe was formed in 1998 by Martin Dawes Telecommunications (MDT), but was spun off last year when BT Cellnet bought MDT. Last month, breathe received equity funding of £20m from a syndicate of venture capitalists including Chase Captial.