Plenty of ppl here in the UK pay dial-up per minute. Flat rate is available though: I pay about 13ukp per month for unmetered 24hr. At current prices you need to be Online around 10-20 hours a month to justify flat rate.
Various ISDN options are also available, usually at prohibitively high rates - although prices are coming down, and if you're lucky enough to live in the right part of the country, you might be able to have cable from NTL or someone. I can't though
