Bulldog has taken inspiration from the dark days of dial up with its latest broadband offering - pay-as-you-go broadband.

Under the ISPs 'Start@ctive' branding, the package will give consumers 8Mbps downstream access for 3p per minute with no line rental. One major warning here is that 24hours continuour connection would cost users over £43. Keep the connection up for a whole month, and that 3p per minute 'low cost' broadband option, could cost you in excess of a staggering £1300.

Worrying, we found no confirmation of a a capped monthly price, nor any evidence that Bulldog have implemented any form of idle timeout.

On a more positive note, connection costs just a pound (if taking out a new phone line with Bulldog), and users can also get hold of a free USB modem.

While BT has trialled a per-minute scheme and smaller ISPs have launched similar price plans, Bulldog is the first major UK ISP to launch such a product.

The move comes in the wake of customer service woes, leading to an Ofcom investigation and major marketing push for the ISP following the belief that complaints about Bulldog are now "comparable" with its competitors.

Analysts have recently been predicting the entry of pay-as-you-go broadband into the UK market to cater for the light user segment - especially as prices are dropping for operators. This week BT announced it's cutting its Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) prices by 40 per cent, as part of its strategy to stimulate competition and avoid Ofcom intervention.