MORE than 3,000 Studley homes and businesses will have access to faster broadband by the spring of next year, BT has announced.

It is among the latest communities in the area to be included in the roll-out plans for BT’s next generation copper broadband service.

The BT investment makes available broadband speeds of up to 20 megabits per second (Mbps) – more than double the maximum speeds previously available to the majority of UK homes and businesses.

The technology is already available in nearly 40 communities across Worcestershire and Warwickshire, including Redditch, Rubery, Bromsgove, Droitwich, Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick.

By the Spring of next year around 83 per cent of West Midlands premises are expected to have been upgraded.

The new next generation broadband network is available on an open, wholesale basis to all internet services providers.

This investment is in addition to the £2.5 billion BT roll-out of super-fast fibre-based broadband, which is expected to bring even faster speeds to two-thirds of UK premises by the end of 2015.

Councillor Stephen Thirlwell, customer access and partnerships portfolio at Stratford-upon-Avon District Council, said: “We welcome the upgrading of these telephone exchanges.

“With the installation of the latest broadband technology, it will certainly help to transform the way our residents and local businesses communicate.

“It is a major boost for homeworkers and will also benefit families who use the internet for so many different things, like accessing public services online and will ensure our communities are not disadvantaged by poor connectivity.”