The UK once lagged behind other countries in its implementation of high-speed broadband, but there are signs that things are improving.
Virgin Media has already introduced its 100Mbps service in some parts of the country, and BT is accelerating its rollout of fibre optic broadband.
The telecoms provider now plans to offer 'super-fast' internet speeds to two thirds of UK premises by the end of 2014 – a year ahead of its original schedule.
The firm says its main broadband product will offer maximum download speeds about ten times faster than at present, at around 70-100Mbps. That will help it compete against Virgin Media's 100Mbps service.
Around six million UK premises already have access to its fibre broadband technology, says BT, and it aims to increase that to about ten million properties (around 40% of the total) by the end of next year.
To achieve this, BT has employed an additional 520 engineers and is bringing forward a further £300m investment in its broadband infrastructure.
"Our rollout of fibre broadband is one of the fastest in the world and so it is great to be ahead of what was an already challenging schedule," says BT's chief executive Ian Livingston.
