GASSING on the phone takes on a whole new meaning.

British Gas has announced plans to become the first, national household name to enter the UK home phone market.

In addition to gas and electricity, householders will be able to take their home telephone service from the company.

Anyone signing up for the new British Gas service will save 33 per cent on local calls, 50 per cent on national calls and up to 75 per cent on international calls, compared to BT's standard residential rates.

Further discounts will be available to customers who take their electricity from the company too. As well as home telephone services, mobile and Internet packages will be available.

The UK's leading energy supplier will be the first to offer a full home telephone service including mobile, Internet and family packages allowing customers to make savings on calls from home to mobile and mobile to mobile.

They can also take advantage of competitive, Internet call charges. All calls made, whether on the fixed, mobile or Internet services, will be billed on one British Gas telecoms bill allowing customers to better manage and control their phone costs.

Ian El-Mokadem, British Gas' director of marketing and strategy, said, "Nearly eight million households in the UK don't realise they have a choice of phone supplier and millions more are not benefiting from the savings on offer. British Gas' arrival in the home phone market means competition and customer choice begins here."

He added, "With British Gas the savings will be straightforward - at least third off your BT standard calls no matter what time of day or night you call."

The process of opening up the UK residential phone market to competition began in 1982 yet today one in three customers are unaware they now have a choice of supplier_ and BT carries 80 per cent of all home calls. This contrasts with the UK home energy market where, after two years of full competition, there is 96 per cent awareness of the option to change supplier. British Gas will apply the same successful strategy it used to enter the deregulated electricity market to kick-start competition in the telecoms market and offer consumers value for money.

Switching from BT to British Gas should be easy with customers keeping their own phone, phone lines and phone number. A "saver socket", supplied free of charge by British Gas, is simply plugged in between the phone and phone socket and, once the automatic registration and connection process is complete, customers can benefit from the reduced call rates.

A report out today by Analysys, a specialist telecoms consultant, highlights that the UK home phone market is on the verge of a big shake-up. The independently researched document concludes: "The competitive intensity of UK home communications will be significantly increased by the arrival of major new players with strong brands and demonstrated staying-power. It seems very likely that the UK home communications market is entering a period of significantly accelerated change."

British Gas aims to have one million subscribers to its new telecoms service by the end of 2001. The company is investing £150million in the new business and will be recruiting 800 staff to help achieve that target.