Six Cornish Communities to Trial New Maximum Speed Broadband
Truro, Newquay, St Ives, Penzance, St Austell and Saltash Lead UK With Fast New Internet Service
Six Cornish communities are to take part in the trial of a new high-speed internet service, which can receive data up to four times faster than standard broadband.
BT exchanges at St Ives, Truro, Newquay, Penzance, St Austell and Saltash are among 53 communities in the UK expected to begin testing the ADSL broadband Max service by the end of next month.
Higher speed broadband services will allow people to run more bandwidth hungry applications at the same time, such as downloading videos or music whilst gaming online, listening to internet radio or e-mailing.
The four-month trial will lay the foundation for the roll-out of higher speed broadband services across the UK by spring of next year.
It will mean internet service providers can offer customers the fastest broadband service their line can reliably support. Download speeds of up to eight megabits per second (Mbps) will be possible compared with the typical service at present of up to two Mbps.
Lizzie Beesley, BT South West regional director, said: "Once again, Cornwall is leading the way with the development of high-speed communications technology.
"It is one of five trial areas selected in the UK, which BT considers to be representative of both urban and rural areas. The other areas are in and around Cardiff, Greater London, Strathclyde and Northern Ireland.
"The development of communications technology continues at an ever faster pace and this is great news for an area like the far South West. Thousands of Cornish businesses and households are already benefiting from the huge opportunities offered by broadband.
"Businesses are using the technology to access new markets and become more competitive, whilst householders are making use of the limitless range of education and leisure services available. As the technology improves so the benefits grow."
Nigel Ashcroft, project director for actnow, Cornwall's multi million pound public and private sector broadband partnership, involving BT, Cornwall Enterprise and the EU Objective One programme, said:
"We are delighted that Cornwall is playing a leading role in this initiative. It ensures that the county remains at the cutting edge in developments of this technology.
"High-speed communications are making a major contribution to creating a more prosperous Cornish community by overcoming many of the economic disadvantages posed by the county's peripheral location."
Nationally, up to 150,000 customers are expected to participate in the trial. Those taking part will be selected by internet service providers.
