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The UK’s broadband finally appears to be getting to up speed with BT’s Openreach confirming that it’s now connected 10 million homes to far superior full fibre technology. Openreach infrastructure is used by some of Britain’s biggest Internet Service Providers (ISPs) including BT, Sky and TalkTalk and this latest upgrade should mean more customers can now take advantage of faster downloads.

Sky recently revealed that it is now offering a 900Mbps service for those with fibre cables in their street and BT has offered similar speeds for a number of years.

Unlike older copper lines, which can only cope with speeds of around 70Mbps, Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) is fully capable of blasting the web around the home at over 800Mbps. At that rate, it would take just under a minute to download a full HD movie – that’s over 10 times faster than the current UK average.

Openreach says that this is a major milestone for the firm with a village called Ketton in Rutland becoming the 10 millionth location for full-fibre

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.Of course, there’s still a long way to go before everyone gets this new technology but it’s hoped that 25 million properties will be connected within the next few years.

Speaking about the upgrade Clive Selley, CEO, Openreach, said: “Today marks a significant milestone in our transformation of the UK’s broadband. Not only will access to Full Fibre technology improve the speed and reliability of the internet connections used by people, businesses and public services, it also provides us with the infrastructure we need to meet the demands of an increasingly digital world.

“Now we’re focused on the next phase of our build. Our engineers are building rapidly across the country and we already have plans in place that will see Full Fibre broadband reach over 25 million premises. We’re excited for the future that Full Fibre will create for everybody across the UK.”

If you’re unsure about whether you can get these better speeds you can use the Openreach broadband speed check below.

CHECK YOUR POSTCODE HERE

It will tell you what downloads are available in your road and when to expect an upgrade.

News of this Openreach upgrade comes as some BT users are being offered the chance to test new broadband technology that can whizz files and films into homes at speeds in excess of 1.8Gbps. At that rapid rate you’d be able to download a 4K movie in under 20 seconds.

There’s no word on who and how many people are being invited to give it a go but if you get an email out of the blue then it’s worth considering especially as it’s a free boost whilst tests are being performed.

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