The New York Times Co Chairman Arthur Sulzberger is close to announcing that the paper will begin charging for access to its website, New York Magazine reported on its Web site citing people familiar with internal deliberations.

A final decision could come within days and a plan could be announced in a matter of weeks, Nymag.com reported.

It will likely be months before the Times actually begins to charge for content, perhaps sometime this spring, the report said.

Apple Inc's tablet computer is rumored to launch on January 27, and sources speculate that Sulzberger will strike a content partnership for the new device, which could dovetail with the paid strategy, the magazine reported over the weekend.

We'll announce a decision when we believe that we have crafted the best possible business approach. No details till then, the report quoted a Times spokeswoman as saying.

(Reporting by Santosh Nadgir in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

The New York Times Journalism