Britain's speediest broadband heads to Ebbsfleet

Faster broadband services are in high demand for businesses and consumers nationwide, but instead of arriving in a major hub such as London, the UK's fastest broadband service is to be launched in Ebbsleet in Kent.

With speeds reaching a blistering 100 MB/s, the service will expand from its current user base of 120,000 businesses to 10,000 homes - allowing them to download videos from the web in seconds rather than minutes and enjoy crystal clear voice quality on VoIP calls.

Steve Robertson, the head of BT Openreach, which is providing the fast connections, said: "Openreach will provide the basic infrastructure and service providers will have the opportunity to build their own services on the back of it.

"Ultra fast broadband is a key future technology that will allow our businesses to innovate, grow and create wealth as well as providing even greater options for consumers."

This will finally bring at least some UK homes up to speed with connections enjoyed in some countries in south-east Asia, where fibre optic connections were installed at ground level.

Contrasting with the UK's outdated phone system, this allowed network providers in countries such as South Korea to offer fast broadband connections without incurring costs from replacing the lines.

But with British firms increasingly calling for faster broadband to allow them to keep their market position, there is growing pressure on the government and BT to invest in broadband speed upgrades nationwide.