Millions of Sky and BT customers to receive ultra fast broadband speed upgrade in more than 500 places across the UK

MILLIONS of households across the UK are set to receive a big speed boost to their broadband service in the coming months.

More than 500 locations have been earmarked for ultra fast 1.8Gbps capable speeds, allowing users to download a full HD movie in about 40 seconds.

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Openreach, which looks after the bulk of communication cables, is embarking on a massive upgrade expected to cost up to £15billion.

Their network is used by big brands like BT, Sky, Vodafone and TalkTalk.

The firm is phasing out copper in favour of speedy Full Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) broadband.

This uses pure fibre optic cables that connect you straight to the exchange, meaning data can travel a lot faster.

It’s far less likely to struggle during busy peak time congestion, so you can easily stream a 4K movie without constant buffering.

“We’re on track and on-budget to make this life-changing broadband technology available to 25million homes and businesses,” said Openreach boss Clive Selley.

“We plan to build right across the UK, from cities and towns to far-flung farms and island communities.”

Some 14million premises have already received the upgrade so far.

The latest batch will add a further 2.7 million homes and businesses to the list.

Some 400,000 are in the hardest to reach areas and rural parts of the country, such as Tobermory in Argyll and Bute, Haworth in West Yorkshire, Saundersfoot in South Wales, Pinxton in Derbyshire, Harlow in Essex and Roborough in Devon.

Openreach is aiming to make gigabit-capable technology available to 25million homes and businesses by the end of 2026, including 6.2million in rural areas.

“Ultimately, we’ll reach as many as 30 million premises by the end of the decade if there’s a supportive political and regulatory environment,” Selley continued.

“Today we’re publishing more detail than ever about the places we’re building in now, and the communities we’ll be upgrading next.”