Telegraph Media Group moves to quell paywall speculation

Press reports said the Daily Telegraph would start to charge for online content next year

The Telegraph has denied a report in the Financial Times (FT) that it is planning to launch a paid content model in the New Year.

The move would have brought it into line with the The Times, Sunday Times and the Financial Times.

The original story said that the Telegraph Media Group (TMG) was drawing up plans for a ‘freemium' model, much like that of the The FT, where some of its content is behind a paywall, with other articles available for free.

The piece cited a source familiar with The Telegraph's strategy who said: "Although the final decision has not been made, the pay system will not be an impregnable paywall like that of The Times. It will be a metered system or, less likely, micropayments."

In response, The Telegraph claims that it is has not yet made any decision on whether to charge for reading its news online.

"Absolutely no decisions have been made on the introduction of a paid-content model," the TMG said in a statement.

"Like all publishers, TMG continually evaluates the developments in the digital sector."

Meanwhile, Richard Branson's iPad-only publication Project was launched yesterday on Apple's App Store, ahead of competitor, News Corp and Apple's rumoured collaborative effort The Daily.