LineOne to scrap Net access fee

NEWS LineOne - BT's subsidiary Internet service provider (ISP) - looks set to join the ranks of free ISPs tomorrow. Owned by BT, News International and United News & Media, the company - which also provides an information streaming service - is expected to scrap its £9.99 monthly charge. Last week, Silicon.com revealed that The Sun newspaper - which is owned by News International - is to jump on the free ISP bandwagon, and LineOne is expected to be the provider behind the service. LineOne could well be straining under the intense competition introduced by service providers like Dixon's Freeserve that have taken the market by storm. In two years, LineOne has managed to generate a user base of 90,000 - a figure dwarfed by Freeserve's take-up rate of one million in just four months. UK telecoms regulator, Oftel was non-committal on the subject of subscription-free services: "It's a new service, it's offering customers more choice in the market, so it can't be a bad thing. But we are still monitoring the market carefully," a spokesman said. LineOne representatives were unavailable for comment at time of publication, but one unnamed industry observer confirmed the plans have been in the pipeline for some time.