30.01.03      
Cornwall steps up its broadband campaign

Cornwall’s successful broadband campaign will be stepped up next month with a host of events to further raise awareness of the high speed service.

A ‘Broadband Week,’ believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, is due to be held during the week starting Monday February 3 to coincide with ADSL broadband becoming available at BT exchanges in four further towns in Cornwall – St Ives, Saltash, Bude and Penryn.

actnow, the multi million pound Cornish broadband project launched in April of last year, today announced a series of free broadband events during the week, including receptions, talks and seminars. And one lucky business registering an interest in ordering ADSL during Broadband Week will win a year’s free broadband.

Receptions between 5pm and 7pm will be held at the China Fleet Club, Saltash, on February 3, the Combined Universities for Cornwall Tremough Campus, Penryn, on February 4 and the Falcon Hotel, Bude, on February 5.

There will also be a morning reception between 8am and 10am at The Tate, St Ives, on February 6 and ‘open door’ sessions at actnow’s customer experience centres at Tolvaddon near Camborne; PFA Research, Bodmin; Enterprise Tamar, Launceston. The open door sessions will take place throughout normal working hours at the Tolvaddon centre, between 12noon and 2pm on February 5 at Launceston and between 5pm and 7pm on February 6 at Bodmin.

Rounding off the week, between 12noon and 2pm on Friday February 7, will be a seminar at the Digital Peninsula Network offices in Penzance, which explores forms of broadband other than ADSL, such as satellite and wireless.

Nigel Ashcroft, actnow project director, said: “We are delighted with the growing demand for broadband in Cornwall. By the end of Broadband Week, more than 3,000 Cornish businesses and households will have ordered broadband.

“Now we want to take awareness in Cornwall of the tremendous opportunities offered by broadband to an even higher level.

“The evening receptions in Bude, Saltash and Penryn and the morning meeting in St Ives will provide the ideal opportunity for local people and businesses to hear what broadband can do for them. At each event, there will be short presentations on broadband plus the opportunity for questions and networking.

“Experts will also be available at the ‘open door’ sessions at our customer experience centres when people will be able to see for themselves broadband in action. We really hope that people will take advantage of the excellent opportunity provided by these events. Most people will be amazed by the speed of broadband and its many applications.”

Nine BT exchanges in Truro, St Austell, Redruth, Camborne, Newquay, Penzance, Falmouth, Bodmin and Launceston are already equipped with the latest ADSL technology.

Small and medium businesses in the four newly enabled areas of Bude, Penryn, Saltash and St Ives are being mailed details of the events and broadband information.

The actnow package for small and medium businesses includes pre and post sign-up advice, a range of computer equipment and broadband connection options to suit the needs of individual businesses, financial support and privileged members’ access to the actnow website.

For the basic engineer-installed broadband service provided by BT, actnow subsidies reduce the installation charges from £210 to nil and the monthly line rental from £29.99 to £19.99.

Further information about broadband week can be obtained by calling actnow on 01209 722850 or visiting the website www.actnowcornwall.co.uk

Editor's notes:

The actnow programme, launched on April 24 2002, is a demand-led initiative to encourage businesses in Cornwall to gain the support they need to move into the new broadband economy. Including about £5.25 million from Objective One, it is one of the largest private and public sector partnerships in Cornwall since the county was granted Objective One status by the European Union in 2000. Partners include BT, the Objective One Partnership Office, Cornwall Enterprise, Council, Business Link Devon and Cornwall, the South West of England Regional Development Agency, Cornwall County Council and Cornwall College.

ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) transforms the pair of copper wires between a local telephone exchange and the customer’s telephone socket into a high speed digital line.

It is called asymmetric because it is generally configured to move data more quickly from exchange to customer than from customer to exchange. This makes it particularly suitable for applications where customers expect to receive more data than they transmit. Use of the World Wide Web, corporate intranets and the reception of digital audio-visual material generally fit this pattern.

For further information contact Neil Simpkin of actnow on 01209 722850 or Jason Mann of BT on 0845 726 2624.

Jason Clark
Communications Manager
Objective One Partnership Office
Castle House
Pydar Street
Truro TR1 2UD
Tel: 01872 241379
Fax: 01872 241388

jason@dclark.co.uk

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