Yorkshire-based, ehotspot, has cut to 15 the number of punters needed for it to install its wireless broadband service.

Designed for those areas where demand for broadband isn't sufficient enough for BT to invest in converting the local exchange to ADSL, the service is already being adopted by rural communities.

Punters signing up for the service are hit with an up-front installation fee of £149 with subscription costing £29.99 a month

Backhaul to the service is provided by satellite provider Aramiska.

Some 50 communities have already signed up for the service. Ehotspot reckons that demand is so great that some 200 sites will be live by the summer.

John Sprank, chief exec of ehotspot said: "The demand we have received for our community broadband service is unprecedented. Through partnering with Aramiska we are providing a solution to the many challenges rural communities face in acquiring a broadband connection.

"A number of communities have been let down by providers with promises of broadband which have been unfulfilled due to the inability to deliver at the technical level," he said.

Typically, installation of the service takes less than a month from start to finish.

Once the Aramiska connection is in place connecting the community with the Net, each house installation takes a couple of hours using a small six inch square box at roof level which receives the broadband signal. ®