Tories to bring high-speed broadband by 2017

The Conservative Party has revealed plans for "nationwide super-fast broadband," the BBC has said.

If the party won this year's general election it would provide broadband speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) to the "majority" of homes by 2017.

Shadow chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne told the BBC that rural infrastructure would be financed by the private sector.

Mr Osborne added that where it is unattractive for private companies to pay for the network to reach, the BBC license fee would be used to make up the deficit.

"Let's build the super-fast broadband network that will create hundreds of thousands of jobs for Britain," said Mr Osborne.

Widespread access to next-generation broadband could potentially enhance the experience of using IP telephony solutions in the UK, especially high-definition VoIP solutions, which require a higher bandwidth.

Broadband subscriptions worldwide will rise to half a billion over the next year, Informa Telecoms & Media recently predicted.

The continued spread of fixed broadband could potentially see more households and businesses taking up VoIP phones.