Rural ADSL to go live tomorrow

Six of BT's heavily subsidised Cornish ADSL-enabled local exchanges go live tomorrow (Friday, 26 April].

The £12.5m project, of which BT put up less than £2m, offers ADSL services from £34.95 a month. Funds from local businesses, government agencies and around £5m in EU funding made up the shortfall.

Some 3,300 businesses around Truro, St Austell, Redruth, Camborne, Newquay and Penzance are set to benefit.

Depending on take-up, further exchanges at Falmouth, Bodmin, Launceston Saltash, Penryn, St Ives and Bude may be upgraded later in the year.

Elsewhere in the UK, BT has been criticised for providing only expensive or limited satellite broadband services to rural areas, after arguing that providing ADSL is not commercially viable.

BT insists that it has to receive subsidies along the lines of its Cornwall deal if it is to upgrade rural exchanges to provide ADSL broadband.

The basic package for Cornish businesses includes ADSL, a business specification PC with software, a webcam, advice, installation, training and maintenance, three years on-site support, a helpline, and members' access to a Cornish-run ecommerce website.