Telegraph extends paywall to UK readers

The Telegraph is extending its paywall to UK readers

The Daily Telegraph is to extend its paywall to UK readers, the latest newspaper to turn to the measure as readerships become increasingly digital.

Readers of the Telegraph website will get 20 articles per month for free, then pay as much as £9.99 a month for phone and tablet access.

Print subscribers will have unlimited access to the website, it said.

Newspapers have suffered from falling sales and less advertising revenue.

"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 New York Times, The Times and other papers have put up paywalls to get more revenue from their readers.

But the Telegraph is the second major newspaper in the UK after the Financial Times to implement the so-called metered model, which allows a certain amount of access free of charge.

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.

All newspaper organisations are facing more competition from the likes of Google, blogs and non-traditional media as well.

This week, 17-year-old Londoner Nick D'Aloisio sold his app called Summly - which offers summaries of existing news stories published on the net - for what was reportedly millions of pounds.