The Daily Telegraph has become the latest UK newspaper to charge for access to its website, as traditional news outlets continue to compete with digital competition from search engines, news aggregators and blogs.
Under the new scheme, Telegraph readers wuill need to register to get access to 20 articles per month for free, then pay up to £9.99 a month for phone and tablet access.
Existing subscribers to the print newspaper will have unlimited access to the website.
“The Daily Telegraph continues to have more subscribers than any British national newspaper,” the paper said. “We are proud of that fact, and we want to reward our loyal subscribers.”
The paper had been charging international readers to read the Telegraph website. It says it has 60 million readers a month.
Readers will have to pay £1.99 a month to get access to the website and smartphone apps, and £9.99 a month for access to tablet editions as well.
The move follows similar paywalls from other UK news sites, such as The Timeas and the Financial Times, as newspapers have suffered from falling sales and less advertising revenue due to digital competition.
It is unclear exactly when the Telegraph will start charging, but the newspaper said that readers will get a one-month free trial before the paywall comes into effect.
