Press & PR

Thousands of businesses in Cornwall have signed up to a project designed to improve internet access throughout the county.

Actnow was set up in 2002 to help local firms promote their business online and has now reached the milestone of 10,000 users, three times the original forecasted figure.

The scheme allows companies to take advantage of internet resources like web-hosting and VoIP services.

Project director Nigel Ashcroft said: "We are delighted to have hit the milestone of supporting 10,000 businesses in Cornwall."

Actnow has received much praise from local businesses, including Big Wednesday, which signed up to the project when it first began.

Director Wendy Brook said that the scheme has helped the company become one of the largest surfing e-retailers in the country.

"Investing in broadband technology has transformed our business and allowed us to take it to the next level," she told Western Morning News.

A number of other access programmes also operate across the country, with a residential service in Scotland aiming to connect remote areas of the highlands to high-speed broadband services.

It would allow people to make cheap calls throughout the UK using VoIP services such as Vonage's V-Plan 1 package.