Borders town wins big broadband break

A TOWN in the Scottish Borders has beaten bigger rivals to become one of the first places in the UK to benefit from fibre optic broadband,

Residents of Innerleithen have campaigned for years to get faster internet connections, struggling with speeds as slow as one megabit per second.

Innerleithen has been named as one of six areas winning a competition to be next in line for a technology upgrade for speeds of up to 40Mb.

More than 360,000 votes were cast across the UK during a three-month survey for BT's Race to Infinity campaign, with Innerleithen hitting near 100 per cent approval from residents.

Ross McGinn, chairman of the Innerleithen, Traquair and Glen Community Council, said they bombarded neighbours to make sure everyone voted.

Pupils from the only school, St Ronan's Primary, got involved with poster campaigns - and then went home to remind parents to make their vote count. When the town's lights were turned on for Christmas on 12 December, computers were set up around the town and businesses opened on the Sunday to get maximum participation.

Mr McGinn said: "We have very poor broadband service and have had past meetings with BT, but as a small community we would not be high on the priority list. Cardrona, which is three to four miles from the exchange, has had real problems.

"This will make a big difference for people who work from home. We are trying to attract more business to the community."

Innerleithen will have to wait until 2012 to get the upgrade, along with fellow winners Baschurch in Shropshire, Blewbury in Oxfordshire, Caxton in Cambridgeshire, Madingley in Cambridgeshire and Whitchurch in Hampshire.

Gavin Patterson, chief executive of BT Retail, said: "They've done a brilliant job and we'd like to thank them for their time and dedication."