An additional £3 million will be invested by Warwickshire County Council to improve broadband speeds across the region.

The local authority's cabinet approved the funding at a meeting last week, when it confirmed that the money will go towards matching the £4.07 million that will be made available by government body Broadband Delivery UK.

In addition, £500,000 has been committed by the council to cover the costs associated with bringing super-fast broadband to rural areas across Warwickshire.

Councillor Alan Cockburn, portfolio holder for sustainable communities at the local authority, described faster broadband as "an absolutely essential technology for our rural communities".

He added: "Subject to approval by Broadband Delivery UK, the project team expect to be ready to start the procurement phase of the project by July this year."

Mr Cockburn said the rollout of the new infrastructure is currently scheduled to begin in 2013.

The balance of the match and project funding will come from Coventry City Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and the five districts and boroughs of Warwickshire.

People living in Coventry, Solihull and across Warwickshire are being encouraged to complete a series of online surveys set up by the council, which will help to gauge the level of demand for super-fast broadband and find out what services are currently available.

The authority is also seeking community champions to help promote the advantages of faster internet speeds to local people.

In August last year, rural areas across Britain were allocated a total of £363 million by Broadband Delivery UK to fund next-generation broadband rollouts.

Local authorities and private enterprise partnerships were told to draw up their own delivery plans and find additional investment from elsewhere.

The government is aiming to ensure that 90 per cent of homes and businesses in the UK have access to super-fast connection speeds by 2015. 

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