BOLTON people are switching on to the web through the council's internet kiosks.
According to town hall figures, the 40 special coin-operated blue boxes placed around the borough are used for a total of around 12 full days every month. The kiosks were introduced at the beginning of the year to widen access to the internet in Bolton.
People can use them to visit 11 free public service web-sites - including www.thisisbolton.co.uk - and other paid-for sites.
A survey found that they are most popular with people aged between 18 and 30 and that people older than this were reluctant to use them. The most popular is the council's own web-site which has been accessed for a total of 5,558 minutes.
A survey of 1,300 people across the borough found that people were most likely to use them to find information on leisure activities. It costs 10p a minute to access paid-for sites, with a minimum charge of 50p. To send an email costs 20p and a text 10p.
Des Grogan, the Council's assistant director of civic and administrative services, said: "We are delighted with the early success of the internet kiosks, particularly the interest shown in our own web-site and those of our 10 public sector partners.
"This is proving to be a highly innovative project which is generating interest nationally from other organisations looking to develop something similar or learn from our experiences."
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