Sneak behind The Times paywall with 3

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If The Times’ paywall put you off the newspaper’s website, there is a new way to access the content for free.

From today, mobile operator 3 is offering free access to both The Times and The Sunday Times websites when you sign up to its mobile broadband packages.

Alys Mathew, head of customer mobile broadband at 3, said: “As more people consume news online, a partnership with The Times is a perfect offer for our mobile broadband customers.”

However, the free subscription offer only lasts for three months. After this, pay as you go (PAYG) customers would only get the free access if they topped up every 30 days and contract customers would have to pay £2 per week by direct debit – the same price as everyone else.

Customers will be given The Times iPad application for free as a sweetener though.

The paywall installed on the websites, both owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has been a controversial move. It is also one that has yet to be proven as a successful way to monetise online news.

Parent company of The Times and The Sunday Times, News International, released figures at the beginning of the month claiming 105,000 had paid for access to the daily’s website since the paywall went up in July.

Yet it was thought only half of this figure were monthly subscribers, with the other 50,000+ being made up of users taking advantage of the £1 for 30 days introductory offer or pay as you view customers who stump up £1 for 24 hours access.

Online traffic had also fallen from 21 million per month to The Times alone to 2.7 million to both the daily and Sunday site.

If you are tempted by 3’s offer, however, it will be available to new customers until 31 March 2011.

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