A campaign designed to get North-East businesses to make more commercial use of the region's broadband internet infrastructure has got off to a flying start.

One month after launching the North East Broadband Initiative, scheme partners One NorthEast, BT and Onyx Internet have received more than 100 inquiries from businesses across the region asking how they can take advantage of fast-evolving Broadband Internet services.

The initiative is being financed from the region's £1.4m allocation - over three years - from central Government's £30m Broadband Fund, and aims to enable the region to compete more strongly on economic terms through adopting innovative online ways of doing business.

It also includes the opening of a new educational Broadband Suite at Onyx Internet's Middlesbrough headquarters, and a publicity drive by One NorthEast, BT and Onyx, in conjunction with www.n-e-life.com, the electronic community for the region.

Mobile poster vans, radio advertising on Century FM, direct mail, seminars and PR activity are all communicating the message that the North-East needs to catch up in terms of broadband adoption - or risk missing out on the key business benefits of very fast, always connected, fixed cost Internet access.

Alastair Waite, managing director of Onyx Internet, said: "Our initial aim is to get 1,000 firms connected to the faster services by Christmas.

"The North-East region has the highest number of local telephone exchanges enabled for broadband services outside London, but currently has the lowest take-up of these services.