The subscription plan, which applies to visitors based in Australia, New Zealand and other Asia-Pacific nations, starts on July 2. Other international visitors have already been asked to subscribe over the past two months. Similar strategies are being followed by major news organisations across the globe as they attempt to harness revenue from large and growing digital readership to counter a steep drop in traditional print readership and advertising. The release of Fairfax's new digital plans comes as the company hosts an investor day today to update the market on business conditions and the progress of cost-cutting efforts. "Our philosophy is that all of our publishing activities, regardless of whether they are print or digital, need to have a clear commercial rationale,” Allen Williams, managing director of Australian Publishing Media at Fairfax, said. While introducing a paid model, Fairfax has been keen to leave access free for most readers in order to maintain the company's digital dominance among Australian news sites. Videos and photo galleries will remain free although blog access will be the same as for articles.

In May, the SMH website and its mobile site attracted average daily unique browsers totalling almost 840,000 and The Age about 587,000. By contrast, rival News mastheads such as The Australian had just over 203,000 average daily UBs, the Herald Sun fewer than 345,000 and The Daily Telegraph about 243,000, according to Nielsen Market Intelligence. Keeping it simple “Visitors will be able to continue to enjoy our content just as they do now, with minimal disruption,” Mr Williams said. “Subscribers will have access to a higher level of content plus additional benefits.” Fairfax will offer a range of packages starting at $1 for the first month for full access to the websites and mobile sites of the SMH and Age, rising to between $15-$44 per month after that, depending on the mix of newspaper delivery or tablet access subscribers choose. Additional benefits for those paying include access to the new Zoom research tool for popular news topics such as Bob Hawke or the Melbourne Cup, interactive short books (such as AFL Footy Guide 2013 or Extraordinary travel experiences) and exclusive offers and invitations.

Those extras are intended as additional inducements to entice readers to subscribe. Articles can also be shared on social media or reached via search engines such as Google. Sister websites the Canberra Times, the Brisbane Times and WAToday will retain their free access. Readers using iPad or Android tablet apps can get full access for free for the first month before a $21.99 monthly fee kicks in. Sections remaining free for tablet users include the front page, editor's choice, and videos. Sections for subscribers will include news, world, BusinessDay, technology, sport and the crosswords. The subscription ID will follow the person not the device, meaning subscribers will be able to access the websites and mobile sites multiple ways. Current newspaper subscribers for at least two days a week will also gain full digital access once they activate their account.

Visitors to the SMH and Age web and mobile sites from North America, Europe and the Middle East have had a metered model in place since March, with access free for the first 10 articles each month. Fairfax said sign-ups are running at twice the expected rate. The success of the metered model for Fairfax's main metropolitan mastheads will be closely watched by sister publication the Australian Financial Review, said Brett Clegg, director of business media. Mr Clegg said it was too early to say how many articles would be free under a metered plan should the Fin switch from its existing digital paywall. NYT-picking The New York Times, widely seen as an industry standard for successful meter models, had 676,000 paying digital subscribers at the end of March - almost as many as its 731,000 print customers, according to Bloomberg. Readers currently get access to 10 free articles per month, with full access starting at 99 US cents for the first four weeks, before rising to $US3.75 per week.

Rival The Washington Post will start its paid online subscriptions from June 12, charging $US9.99 per month for access to more than 20 articles a month on desktop and mobile devices. Goldman Sachs media analyst Christian Guerra said investors are keen to learn more about Fairfax's digital plans at Thursday's briefings by the company. Also of interest would be whether Fairfax intends to spin off Fairfax's Domain property assets and whether there are other cost-cutting efforts in the works, Mr Guerra said in a research note. Mr Guerra, who has had a “sell/cautious” rating on Fairfax stock since January 31, argues the company remains too exposed to the ailing publishing industry, particularly after the sale of its Trade Me online auction business. He estimates digital subscriptions will generate $9 million - $27 million in revenues per year, shy of the $48 million in revenue Goldman Sachs estimates the Metro Media division will lose next financial year.

Tablet downloads for the SMH and Age apps remain on a strong growth trajectory, with downloads for both mastheads more than doubling in the year to May to almost 1.25 million, according to AppFigures. Access to the mobile sites is also rising, with average daily unique browsers for The Age surging 53 per cent to almost 154,000 in May from a year earlier. The SMH mobile site saw average daily UBs gain 21 per cent over that time to more than 221,000, Nielsen data show. WHAT YOU CAN CHOOSE FROM Package 1

• Website access from any device (desktop or mobile)

• $1 for the first month, then $15 a month ongoing Package 2

• Full access to the iPad or Android tablet app

• $0 for the first month, then $21.99 a month ongoing

Package 3

• Website access from any device (desktop or mobile)

• Full access to the iPad or Android tablet app

• $1 for the first month, then $25 a month ongoing Loading Package 4

• Website access from any device (desktop or mobile)

• Full access to the iPad or Android tablet app

• Saturday and Sunday newspaper delivery

• $1 for the first month, then $25 a month ongoing Package 5

• Website access from any device (desktop or mobile)

• Full access to the iPad or Android tablet app

• 7-day newspaper delivery $1 for the first month, then $44 a month ongoing