BT fibre-to-the-home coming to St Austell

Businesses and residents in St Austell will be able to benefit from fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband in the coming months, BT has announced.

In a press conference at Cornwall's Eden Project tourist attraction, the telecoms giant revealed the town will be one of the first parts of the UK to get access to speeds of up to 100Mbps.

The improvement work to the St Austell telephone exchange is set to be finished this summer.

Around half of the exchanges in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are due to be hooked up to fibre optic broadband within the next 18 months.

Communications minister Ed Vaizey has welcomed the news, stating: "The availability of high-speed broadband is a key enabler for economic recovery, business efficiency and an inclusive, digital society."

The first 50 Cornish customers were connected to fibre broadband in March 2011, just half a year after the signing of the contract for the Superfast Cornwall project.