A teenager has been the toast of computer users in Tenby this week after successfully spearheading a campaign to get Broadband for the town.

Fourteen-year-old Andrew Powling was delighted on Monday when he was contacted by BT informing him the trigger level of 500 registrations had been reached... and exceeded!

Named 'Broadband 4 Tenby', the campaign, which Andrew has been leading, was launched last year in an effort to get BT to upgrade the telephone exchange on The Norton to support Broadband, allowing residents and businesses in the town to access this revolutionary fast internet service.

The town's official campaigner, Andrew, a Year 9 student at Greenhill School, will now be in regular contact with BT to push for a ready for service date, when the exchange will be enabled.

Any dates given, along with the latest news, will be published on the campaign website, http://www.broadband4tenby.co.uk">www.broadband4tenby.co.uk.

"There has been great support for the campaign within the town and special mention must be made of Joe Llama, another pupil of Greenhill School and Ben James, crew member and webmaster of Tenby Lifeboat, of Total-IT-Support.co.uk, for their help and support during the successful campaign," said Andrew.

"Thanks must also go to Martin Davies, of Knowling Mead, for his dedicated work in delivering leaflets to residents and businesses throughout the town, as well as Chris Osborne, of the Fourcroft Hotel, who was one of the first 500 to register; Andrew Davies, the Welsh Assembly government development officer; Clr. Brian Howells, of Pembrokeshire County Council; Bobby King, chairman of Pembrokeshire Hotels and Restaurants Association; Tenby Town Council and the Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Caroline Thomas; Lesley Fisher, of Tenby House Hotel; the parents of the campaigners; and last, but not least, everyone who took the time to register on my official campaign website.

"In the beginning, 500 registrations seemed a long way off, but we were determined to reach the target," he added.

Andrew was also full of praise for all the publicity he had received, particularly the coverage from the Observer.

The website, which can still be accessed, has had over 3,000 visits from all corners of the globe, including the USA and Australia - great publicity for the town of Tenby!

In recognition of all his hard work in arranging and running the campaign, Andrew has been invited to a function at BT Tower in London, where he will meet Alison Ritchie, chief Broadband officer for the BT group.

When he was contacted by BT earlier this week, officially informing him of the excellent news and congratulating him on all his hard work, he also received a letter, stating:

"The BT wholesale broadband campaigns team would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to you as the registered campaigner for Tenby. All your hard work, enthusiasm and energy in bringing broadband to your community has paid off and we sincerely hope that you are recognised by your community for the commitment that you have shown."

In addition, Andrew was delighted to receive a letter of congratulations on Tuesday from Mr. Philip Evans, chairman of the Wales Tourist Board, who has been following his campaign closely.

In his letter, Mr. Evans also passed on the congratulations of the minister for economic development and transport, who has responsibility for IT development in Wales.

"We both wish you well for the future, which I am sure will be a very bright one for someone that shows such initiative," he said.