A total of 40,000 homes in Swindon will be part of BT’s £1.5bn push to get more people onto super-fast broadband.

The announcement signals the biggest phase of the national project to date with more than 300 BT exchanges across the UK due to be upgraded between the autumn and summer next year.

Swindon is part of a further 130,000 homes and businesses in the south west to benefit.

This latest phase builds on the 64,000 south west lines due to be upgraded by this summer, including Blunsdon and Toothill, which have already been announced – and will take the total number of super-fast fibre-based lines in the region to around 194,000.

It is the latest chapter in BT’s longer-term programme to make super-fast fibre-based broadband available to at least 40 per cent of the UK – or some 10 million homes – by summer 2012. Four million premises will have been connected by the end of this year in the largest single commercial investment in fibre-based broadband ever undertaken in the UK.

Super-fast broadband offers much faster download speeds of up to 40Mbs, potentially rising to 60Mbs, and upstream speeds of 10Mbs, with the chance of it rising to 15Mbs, giving customers greater flexibility in how they use the internet, including much easier uploads of photos and videos. These speeds also offer businesses major advantages, including new services and more sophisticated communications, such as high-quality videoconferencing.

BT’s fibre plans build on existing initiatives such as its pioneering 21st Century Network (21CN), which has already placed faster speeds within reach of more than half of UK homes using the existing copper network.

Jon Reynolds, BT’s south west regional director, said: “Our major investment in super-fast fibre-based broadband combined with the roll-out of BT’s 21st Century Network is giving this region the sophisticated technology to help it prosper in the future.

“Faster broadband continues to change the way we live and work, offering tremendous business, educational and entertainment opportunities for firms and households.

“BT would also like to roll-out the fibre networks to parts of the UK where the economics are more challenging and where some public funding will be required.

“We are, of course, very open to holding discussions with public sector organisations, such as regional development agencies and local councils, on how this could be achieved.”

Steve Robertson, chief executive of Openreach, the division of BT responsible for the roll-out, said: “Millions of homes and businesses will benefit from this investment in fibre technology.”