IT IS not often that the Faroe Islands help Kent business to grow.

But the £200,000 investment by Faroese Telecom in Telabria, a hi-tech firm based at Kent Science Park, Sittingbourne, will contribute to a faster broadband connection for subscribers on the fringes of town centres.

Award-winning Telabria, founded by Jim Baker, looked overseas as well as to Kent to fund its next growth phase. And he was delighted when a chance meeting with Faroese Telecom led to the welcome investment.

They see it as a way of becoming involved in new telecoms companies with growth potential, says Mr Baker.

"Before companies like Telabria, it was BT, NTL, Telewest - how do you get a foothold in that unless you buy shares on the stock market.

"With this new type of communications company, foreign telcos can have some impact into how these companies gow and we regard this as a very positive piece of news for us."

He expects Telabria to have an extra £2.3 million by next March to enable a roll-out of wireless - or WiMAX - broadband service across Kent, Essex, Suffolk and Sussex. This means adding to the existing 75 public hotspot wi-fi zones across the region.

Telabria employs 17 staff, a figure that Mr Baker expects to double within a year.

The company won widespread publicity for teaming up with Faversham brewer Shepherd Neame to take wireless broadband to rural communities via the local pub.

Now it is offering Skylink, launched in September and dubbed "Next Generation Broadband" by Mr Baker, which takes the service to fringes of towns remote from telephone exchanges.

Canterbury and Swale are the first areas targeted by Telabria, followed by Medway, Ashford, Thanet, Maidstone, Folkestone and Dover.

"We are certainly planning to cover all the urban centres of the county," said Mr Baker. "Kent’s a good market with 1.5 million people, 650,000 households and 60,000 businesses. It’s a terrific opportunity."

He expects a projected turnover of up to £15 million to come in part from growth in triple play - data, voice and TV - all invoiced on a single bill. Telabria aims to have between 10,000 and 15,000 customers within 12 months.

A small rooftop aerial, which takes around 30 minutes to install, enables reception. An aerial is already on the roof of Charter House, Ashford. "We want Kent to become a world leader," he said. "To include the excluded."

Mr Baker, whose wife is expecting their third child in November, lives in Shottenden, near Faversham. He cannot receive broadband at home.

He said: "I’ll be the first customer when it comes to Faversham. If we get it right in Kent, it will be easy to replicate elsewhere. I won’t be satisfied until we’ve brought broadband to anyone who wants it."