The system, developed by the Newspaper Society (NS) for the local and regional newspaper market, could soon have more subscribers on Fleet Street.

The NS has revealed that it is in talks with several other national titles, although no further details are currently available.

Ralph Tait, FT origination manager, said that the paper had chosen AdFast following upgrades to its OneVision Asura workflow.

"The Asura Pro upgrade enables AdFast files to be delivered direct into Asura, and there's an automated process to now send files in and get them flight-checked at the same time," he said.

He said that AdFast, as a free service, allowed the title to offer better customer service, adding that AdFast also offered a more convenient solution than ISDN to foreign advertisers as it was internet-based.

Tait added that AdFast would run alongside other delivery systems including ISDN, Quickcut, hard copy and e-mail across all sections of the paper. "It's up to the client. We're flexible in the way we receive files," he said.

"Our preference is still for Quickcut, but we're now in a position where AdFast is close enough that we can accommodate it because of the Asura Pro upgrade."

AdFast general manager Rob Fogwill said that the number of agencies using the system had more than doubled to over 900 from around 400 at the start of the year.

Story by Josh Brooks