Broadband Switch-on in Holt

12.00.00pm GMT Wed 18th Feb 2004

Cllr Duncan Hames welcomes the arrival of the high-speed Internet in Holt

High-speed Internet services were switched on last week for residents of Holt, Staverton and Broughton Gifford. Households in these villages will be able get 'Broadband' Internet typically ten times faster than before using one of any number in Internet Service Providers.

The Broadband activation of the Holt telephone exchange by BT follows pre-registration levels meeting the 'trigger-level' last autumn. The required level of registrations was dropped last summer from 450 to just 150 households following the launch of 'BT Smart Place' in Wiltshire. This partnership between BT, the South West Regional Development Agency and local government saw BT invest in early conversion of telephone exchanges across Wiltshire.

"This is excellent news for our villages, and a real achievement for local broadband campaigners." commented district councillor Duncan Hames.

"The reduced requirement for registrations by BT was certainly welcome, but credit must go Christian Key and Mandy Davis - the local residents who worked with village magazines and the parish councils to raise awareness and prove the demand locally for these services." he said.

"I hope that many more households in these villages also take-up these services to prove to BT that it is worth converting the exchanges serving the other villages in the district and not just the towns." he added.