PLANS to connect Selborne to the Broadband network were given a massive boost this week when campaigners collected their 200th registration of support.
ÒBroadband 4 SelborneÓ crusader Rowan Reed announced on Monday he had amassed 202 applications of support after a six-month mission to bring the high speed internet connection to the area.
But although it means nearly a seventh of village has declared an interest, they still have no idea whether they have reached the Òtrigger pointÓ needed to warrant a connection.
British Telecom, who supplies the cable and monitors the amount of registrations, needs to be shown a certain amount of residents are interested before deciding a connection is justified.
Despite being kept in the dark, Mr Reed is confident a connection can be made soon and has already won the support of East Hampshire MP James Arbuthnot.
He has been in touch with fellow campaigner Douglas Shewan, who helped bring the network to Tisted, and a broadband workshop is being planned sometime for the future.
And he received some good news last week when he received a letter from BT chairman Sir Christopher Bland, who told him SelborneÕs exchange was under review and a decision would be given in the next few weeks.
Rowan and several other representatives also made a visit to the BT in central London to canvass more support for the project on October 18, and claimed the evening was a roaring success.
He said; ÒThe open day at the BT tower was a great evening. I pushed the campaign for Selborne with some of the senior broadband people and presented Julie Russill (key BT worker) with a ÒBroadband 4 SelborneÓ T-shirt!Ó
He added: ÒI expect us to get a trigger level in the next week or so - I sent out some bright pink leaflets to every house, which took me three hours but has boosted our registrations to the latest total.Ó
It is good news for the village, which only four months ago had a mere 32 registrations of support and knew little about the scheme.
The likelihood is that BT will set the village a target of 250 applications before they start seriously discussing setting up a broadband connection, although this is unconfirmed.