This would be the fastest headline speed available to UK customers, allowing “near instant” music downloads and the simultaneous viewing of multiple HDTV channels.

Steve Robertson, chief executive of Openreach, commented: “This is our first deployment of fibre rather than copper to residential customers on a new build site.”

He went on to say that communication providers can then gauge what demand exists for such a service, and assess their future requirements.

BT said that the government’s plan to build three million new houses by 2020 would potentially allow them to make greater use of fibre in new build sites.

The Independent reports that the government recently warned the UK could risk being left behind as other countries are already developing nationwide fibre-optic networks.

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