As it faces stiffer competition in an increasingly crowded long-distance market, TeleBermuda International yesterday launched a new flat-rate plan for business customers.

According to a press release, the new plan offers rates of 35 cents a minute to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland, regardless of the time of the call. Calls to all other countries will cost 75 cents a minute and there will be no minimum usage requirement or monthly fees.

To qualify for the plan, customers will need to enter a contract. According to a spokesman, the rates in the flat-rate package will be reevaluated as the market price for long distance service continues to fall.

TeleBermuda already offers corporate plans that combine voice and data service and incorporate volume discounts. As the battle for market share continues, the company hopes that customers, especially those who add the cost of long distance calls to a client's bill, will be attracted to the simplicity of the flat-rate plan.

When it began operations in the mid-1990s, TBI was the cut-rate underdog that broke Cable & Wireless's monopoly on international telephone service. But starting last year, the company began to feel pressure from other upstarts, namely Logic Communications and North Rock Communications. Both companies are Internet service providers which use their data connections to offer voice services.