British Telecom is to offer an instant Internet dial up service undercutting the established Internet companies and aimed at luring Internet first-timers, the company announced yesterday.

The company will test its "pay-as-you-surf" Internet service in Northern Ireland this month before rolling out the service to the rest of the UK in September.

Until now, people wanting to visit the Net have had to subscribe to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) which typically costs around £10 per month. Time spent on the Internet is then charged at local telephone call rates.

Under the BT scheme, there will be no monthly subscription and Internet use will be charged at local telephone call rates plus around 1p per minute.