BT reveals locations for superfast broadband trials

British Telecom (BT) has revealed the first areas in the UK to experience the benefits of its super-fast broadband network roll-out programme.

The communications giant recently received favourable conditions from regulator Ofcom to proceed with a £1.5 billion fibre-to-the-cabinet network implementation to reach 40 per cent of businesses and homes in the UK by 2012.

Trial schemes for the deployment will get underway this summer in Muswell Hill, London and Whitchurch, Wales.

Administered by BT's Openreach division, the project will then commence in 2010 to bring broadband of speeds between 40Mbps and 60Mbps to certain selected areas.

Around five hundred thousand homes in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Greater Manchester stand to be the first to benefit from this.

Steve Robertson, chief executive officer of Openreach, described super-fast broadband as "essential to the future of the UK".

He explained: "The wider industry will now be able to plan ahead as we will be making our services available on a wholesale basis.

"This approach will benefit customers as there will undoubtedly be fierce competition for their business."

Japanese internet service provider J:com recently began offering the fastest consumer broadband speed in the world at 160Mbps.