Home internet users in Northern Ireland can buy 24-hour online access at a flat rate of £14.99 sterling (#24.65) per month from UTV Internet. There is no equivalent flat-rate package in the Republic and high users are paying big bills.

This is acting as a barrier to the development of e-commerce and is unfair on people working from home, according to Irelandoffline, which is campaigning for affordable internet access for homes and small businesses.

Irelandoffline was set up in May in response to Esat Fusion's withdrawal of the only unmetered internet service available in the State.

Ms Elana Kehoe, a founder and spokeswoman for Irelandoffline, works from home and relies on the internet. "Since we lost the Esat deal, our phone bills are astronomical."

Surprisingly for a State deemed to be the "e-commerce hub of Europe", just 10.8 per cent of the population subscribes to an internet service.

Currently, Irish internet users pay for access through a pricing model that was designed for telephone calls. Ms Kehoe contends that as a result many people cannot afford to use the Net and those who do face high bills.

Unmetered access would mean that the calls to the internet would be free and that users would gain access simply by paying a fixed monthly subscription.

There are two main types of internet service provider (ISP) for home users, with different charging structures. Anyone with a personal computer needs an ISP to access the internet.

With subscription ISPs, the user pays a monthly or yearly fee and internet access calls are charged at a rate, usually 1891, which is cheaper than regular local phone calls. The 1891 rates are 1.6p per minute, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday, and 0.8p per minute after 6 p.m. and at weekends.

ISPs in this category include Eircom Net, IOL Gold from Esat Fusion, Indigo, Connect Ireland and ntl. The monthly subscription ranges from £10 (#12.71) to £15.

The second type of ISP is marketed as "free access". The user connects after downloading material from the ISP's free compact disc. From that point on, internet access is usually charged at local phone call rates. Eircom Net, Oceanfree.net and IOL Free from Esat Fusion, Indigo, Unison and UTV are the main providers in the "free access" category.

Call charges vary depending on what home phone company you use and some, including Eircom, have minimum charges. The Consumers Association of Ireland (CAI) believes that all telecoms providers should use per second billing with no minimum charge.

In a recent survey of ISPs in the CAI magazine Consumer Choice, an example was given to illustrate that point. If you stay online with IOL Gold for anything less than 7.5 minutes, you pay the minimum charge of 11.5p, even if you are cut off after a few seconds.

The CAI also highlighted one of the main pitfalls of "free access" ISPs - the extra cost of contacting technical support staff if you have a problem. Calls are often to premium rate 1550 numbers that cost 58p per minute.

With subscription ISPs, you usually pay the price of a local call for technical support. This can be more of an issue for those who are new to the internet.

The groundwork has been laid for unmetered open-access packages to be introduced for Irish internet users. The Office of the Director of Telecoms Regulation (ODTR) issued two new access codes in March - 1892 and 1893.

This framework allows for flat- rate access and Eircom is in discussion with other operators to negotiate wholesale rates for the service. According to the ODTR, Eircom is legally obliged to provide these services on a non-discriminatory basis. An Eircom spokeswoman said that it was very difficult to find a viable pricing model for a flatrate fee.

Another avenue for the introduction of unmetered access would be if Eircom provided the deal to its own customers. The company would then be obliged to supply the same service to other operators.

Ms Kehoe of Irelandoffline is optimistic that Irish consumers will be offered the third ISP option soon, but the campaign will continue to try to improve the quality of internet access in the Republic.