FT.com to end free access

The Financial Times is set to end free access to its website FT.com. Instead, selected sections such as its archive will be available on a paid-for subscription basis.

FT owner Pearson has brought forward the date it wants its websites to break even from 2003 to 2002. The sites employ 115 journalists and revenues to date have come from online advertising.

Pearson claims that FT.com now attracts more than one million unique monthly users to its website. The Economist magazine, which is 50% owned by Pearson, also started with a free access model but now charges $59 a year for full access.