NTL is committed to providing flat-fee Net access and reckons it's on course to notch up two million users by this time next year.

The cableco-cum-telco outfit claims 250,000 people are currently using its ntlworld unmetered Net package.

The service was announced in March this year at the same time AltaVista made its pledge to offer unmetered Net access in Britain.

According to Barclay Knapp, NTL CEO: "NTL remains 100 per cent committed to our free ISP strategy.

"Our Internet strategy is to offer an unmatched portfolio of Internet services: from narrowband surfing to high-speed cable modem.

"As a result, we’re on track to have over two million Internet users across our variety of platforms by the middle of next year," he said.

NTL claims to have invested more than £4.5 billion over the last five years to create Britain's second largest national telecommunications network. ®