A six-month trial of community broadband is being launched which could provide a blueprint for bringing high-speed internet services to rural areas.

The BT Scotland scheme is connecting two small exchanges - Drumnadrochit by Loch Ness, and Muir of Ord by the Beauly Firth - to high-speed ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) broadband.

ADSL provides internet access 10 times faster than conventional phone connections.

Both sites are sponsored by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, which is contributing a total of �14,000 towards the cost, while the internet service provider for the 32 trialists will be Inverness-based Scotnet.

I can now manage my servers from Drumnadrochit

Gordon Allison IT consultant

Photographer David Weaver plans to open a studio in the area and sell his prints through local shops and the internet.

"Broadband is just so fast, it's exactly what I need to run this operation," he said.

Gordon Allison runs Nexus db, a strategic IT consultancy for large organisations, primarily universities and colleges in Scotland.

"I can now manage my servers from Drumnadrochit as though I am sitting beside them in Edinburgh," said Mr Alison.

"My work online is now far more spontaneous and efficient."

Two sites in Wales have also been launched and the remaining four in the trial will go live in England and Northern Ireland over the next two months.

All involve sponsoring bodies which have a social, development or commercial interest in bringing broadband to specific areas.