Announcing a £1.5bn investment in the network, which will potentially quadruple the speed of BT's 21st Century Network (21CN), BT said that it wouldn't just be densely populated urban areas that would benefit from the new network.

The key points of BT's announcement

BT chief executive Ian Livingston said: "We are keen to partner with people who share our vision for the next phase of the broadband revolution.

"We want to work with local and regional bodies to decide where and when we should focus the deployment. Our aim is that urban and rural areas alike will benefit from our investment," Livingston continued.

BT has been under pressure from industry regulator Ofcom to invest in a high-speed fibre-optic network to stop the UK falling behind in terms of business and overall broadband access.

Ed Richards, Ofcom's chief executive, said: "This is a clear sign that the UK market is moving in the right direction, with a growing number of plans to deliver super-fast broadband services to consumers.

"The UK has among the most competitive and widely available current generation broadband markets in the world. This new step will ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of developments," Richards continued.

The move was also hailed by others in the industry.

Neil Hawkins, broadband analyst at broadband price-comparison site ChooseISP.co.uk, said: "The announcement that BT is willing to invest this amount in the broadband network is a welcome one. Crucially these services will be infinitely more reliable on a high-speed fibre connection than a traditional ADSL line."

Hawkins also welcomed BT's pledge to allow other providers to use the network in the same way that they can use the current network to provide broadband services.

"It is encouraging to see that BT would plan to sell access to its new fibre network on a similar basis to its current broadband network but perhaps the most welcome part of this news is that there is a focus on delivering the services to rural areas as well as urban ones," he said.

www.bt.com

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