Speaking at a meeting for space telecommunications in Iran this morning, BT’s head honcho Ben Verwaayen let slip one of the operator’s closest kept secrets - FREE Broadband!

Verwaayen spoke openly about plans to deliver free broadband connections into every UK household by the end of 2009. The service would carry no usage charge, except for normal line rental.

Customers would be able to download and surf as much as they want, free from any rising costs or restriction. Apparently the idea has been doing the rounds at BT for sometime, under the codename "419", although the political and economic will to carry it through hasn't existed until now.

The product is expected to be offered alongside BT's ordinary phone line rental package, complete with speeds of up to 100Mbps through fibre links. More details when they exist.