Telecoms regulator Oftel has found that internet access in the UK is even cheaper than in California.

The report found that in Britain, heavy residential users of the internet are paying £18 a month for unlimited access.

In Germany, users pay a huge average of £39 a month, and California residents pay £19 a month. Niether France nor Sweden offer unmetered access.

Oftel also reported some good news for mobile phone users. It was revealed that users in Britain who made less than 40 minutes of calls per month were paying an average of £12 per month.

There was little difference between mobile users in Germany, France and Italy, who pay out between £13 and £18 per month.

More regular mobile users in Britain pay up to £104 for 11 hours and 35 minutes' worth of calls per month. Only France proved to be cheaper, at £89 per month.

Oftel's general director, Dave Edmonds, grabbed the chance to claim the report was evidence that efforts to get the nation online were paying off. Oftel is currently promoting BT's wholesale packages to other companies wanting to offer unmetered services.

The regulator said the only reason cheap internet access was possible, was because operators could offer unmetered services using BT's network.

However, Britain's true position in internet take-up appears to have been dismissed. Even though narrowband is fairly cheap, this country still lags behind much of the rest of the world in broadband access.

This claim is from another recent survey carried out by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. It said we are behind at least 20 other countries in the number of broadband connections per 100 inhabitants.