TAVISTOCK?S telephone exchange is to be upgraded with ADSL broadband technology in May, after reaching the target of 300 registrations of interest last week.
British Telecom will carry out the conversion to ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) on May 21, enabling subscribers to enjoy the benefits of high speed internet connection.
Pierre Morel, West Devon Borough Council?s ICT strategy manager, said it was great news for the town?s businesses and private users, but added there was a long way to go before the whole of West Devon was considered for the upgrade.
He said: ?We?re extremely pleased about this, but it must be remembered that it is only Tavistock?s main exchange which will be converted.
?Villages more than five and a half kilometres from the town are on sub exchanges which aren?t included in the upgrade, and need to reach their own targets.
?We must encourage other West Devon villages to log on and register their interests so they too can receive broadband in the future.?
As reported in the Times, Tavistock qualified for the upgrade last week when the 300th registration was logged. Apart from faster transfer of data, the ADSL conversion will enable users to browse the internet at the same time as using the telephone.
It will also mean instant connection to the internet by eliminating the need to dial-up.
ADSL works by dividing the bandwidth of copper telephone lines into different ranges, known as carriers. The separate carriers each transmit different parts of the same data signal simultaneously, which gives more available bandwidth and higher transmission speeds for the end user, and allows several different signals to be sent on the same wire.