Virgin to join unmetered internet foray

Virgin is the latest company to announce plans offering unmetered internet access in the UK.

Virgin Net said today it will begin trials on an unmetered service in April, initially for PC users, but later this year for TV-internet viewers.

Altavista hit the headlines yesterday with its plans to offer an unmetered access service with no monthly subscription, but with a small annual fee.

NTL today announced totally free internet access, providing customers sign up for its phone service and spend £10 a month on voice calls.

Alex Heath, managing director of Virgin Net, said: "We're looking closely at both Altavista's and NTL's unmetered access packages. They both sound like great news for people that access the internet through PCs, but they now have to deliver on the promise."

He added: "We're in talks with NTL, Virgin Net's access provider partner, to develop a similarly unmetered competitive package for Virgin Net. This will provide a simple pricing alternative for existing and new subscribers to our service and will be piloted in April."

Altavista appears to have sparked a flurry of activity in the unmetered area, and a slew of similar offers from other telcos and ISPs can be expected. Most interesting will be BT's reaction - BT Internet's £9.99 a month unmetered evenings and weekend service looks expensive compared to NTL's offer.