Centrica - the uber utility - is looking to knock BT off its perch and offer competitive telcoms to some eight million households in the UK.

The service should be available next month although details about what's on offer - including cheap Net access - are still sketchy.

According to reports, punters could save at least a third of the cost of BT's call charges.

A spokesman for BT was unruffled by Centrica's entry into the telecoms marketplace.

"We already face a huge amount of competition - we're use to it," he sniffed. ®