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BT rolls out faster copper broadband to 42,500 Lancs properties
Residents in Darwen, Marton and other Lancashire communities can now take advantage of 20Mbps download speeds from BT.
Residents in Darwen, Heysham Longton, Marton, Whalley and Wilpshire can now take advantage of up to 20Mbps download speeds thanks to BT's latest round of infrastructure improvement work in the north-west county.
As a result of the project, more than 42,500 additional properties are able to connect to the fast copper broadband product, which offers more than double the speeds previously available to the majority of local premises.
Exchanges serving the communities of Clitheroe, Colne, Eccleston, Garstang and Ramsbottom are set to be upgraded in the coming months, while the service was already available in around 40 towns and cities in the region, including Burnley, Blackpool, Lytham St Anne's and Preston.
The open, wholesale nature of BT's next-generation copper-based infrastructure means rival internet service providers can utilise the network to offer their own broadband packages to consumers.
This latest investment comes in addition to the company's plan to spend £2.5 billion on deploying fibre optic broadband to around two-thirds of homes and businesses across the UK by 2015.
Mike Blackburn, BT's regional director for the north-west, hailed the move as an "important step" for Lancashire residents.
"Faster broadband can help businesses become more competitive and greatly improve the online services available to families, home workers and other internet users," he added.
"By the spring, around 85 per cent of the region's homes and businesses will be served by an exchange that has been upgraded to deliver these higher speeds."
Elsewhere in the north-west, BT announced just under 15,000 commercial and residential premises in Merseyside have also gained access to the high-speed broadband service.
Ainsdale and Birkdale are the latest locations to benefit from the technology, which will also be available in Mountwood, Rainford and other local communities over the coming months.