Last Cornish exchange gets broadband

On February 22 2006 the North Tamerton telephone exchange became the last exchange in Cornwall to be upgraded to offer broadband. 
 
actnow, the partnership project funded by Objective One and led by Cornwall Enterprise that is spearheading the growth of broadband amongst businesses has already helped over 7,500 businesses, farms and self employed people in Cornwall to benefit from the technology.

The upgrading of the North Tamerton exchange takes the project closer to its goal of providing broadband access to 100% of businesses in Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly.

Nigel Ashcroft, actnow project director says:  "Last year, we ran a survey in North Tamerton to assess the demand for broadband services and found a high level of demand for the high speed internet service." 

The survey results were fed into a tender that actnow project partner, the South West of England Regional Development Agency, commissioned to upgrade all the remaining telephone exchanges in the South West England. 

The South West RDA invested £1.3 million to ensure all the region's exchanges can provide access to broadband, making it commercially viable for a supplier to provide the solution.  The contract was won by BT, which contributed to the substantial investment required to upgrade the exchange.

Fabian King, head of regional ICT for the South West RDA said: 

"We have been working hard to encourage local communities, businesses and individuals alike to realize the benefits of broadband internet connections and are making sure that this is available to the widest possible cross-section of people in South West England."

"As part of this project the RDA is committed to bringing broadband access to the final 20 areas in the region including North Tamerton, to put 99.8 per cent of South West England's population in easy reach of a high speed internet connection."

Mike Drury, from North Tamerton who ran the local campaign for broadband says: "This beautiful rural area hosts a quantity of small businesses ranging from farms, through holiday cottage lettings to a recording studio. Initially, it was not regarded as commercially viable to upgrade the exchange but thanks to all the support we have received, the situation has now been reversed and North Tamerton has access to the same time-saving technology as the rest of the country.  I would like to thank everyone who has helped us get broadband."

Businesses and others in the North Tamerton area will be able to enjoy the benefits of broadband within five days of the exchange being upgraded on 22nd February.

Lizzie Beesley, BT South West Regional Director, said "The upgrading of the BT exchange at North Tamerton is another step forward in the development of the South West as a centre for e-commerce and high-speed internet communications - but work will not stop there. For the region to reap maximum benefit, broadband technology needs to be adopted as widely as possible. We have to demonstrate to internet users that whatever you do online, you can do it better with broadband. "

actnow can offer businesses in Cornwall financial support on the costs of broadband and advice on using broadband and IT to improve their business. The project will be holding a launch event for businesses to find out more in the Victory Hall, North Tamerton on Tuesday 28 February.

Businesses based in Devon are eligible for support through Broadband4Devon.

When St Martin's on the Isles of Scilly gets broadband on 23 June this year, broadband will be available right across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly - an impressive feat for a rural area - however actnow doesn't want to get complacent:

Nigel Ashcroft of actnow says: "It has always been our mission to bring broadband to 100% of businesses in Cornwall.  We realise however that a very small minority of businesses in Cornwall are still unable to get broadband due to various technical and geographical factors and I would encourage those businesses to make contact with actnow so we can help to provide broadband through alternative technology such as satellite. 

"We'll also continue to ensure that as technology moves on, Cornwall stays ahead of the game so we keep our businesses at the cutting edge."

If you are unable to get broadband and you run a business based in Cornwall, contact actnow on 0800 800 935 or email info@actnowcornwall.co.uk