HOMES and businesses in and around Didcot are to get new high speed Internet connections.

BT has announced the town’s telephone exchange will be one of 20 in the South East to be fitted with super-fast fibre-based broadband technology by the end of the summer.

The exchange, which is behind the Orchard Centre, serves 11,000 properties in the area. Rival Internet service providers will be able to access the new fibre optic connections, and thousands of new houses earmarked for Didcot could be fitted with high-speed broadband as they are built.

Didcot’s exchange is the only one in Oxfordshire to benefit from BT’s latest £1.5bn investment in super-fast broadband. The company said four million properties in the UK will have high-speed connections by the end of year.

BT spokesman Steve Robertson said: “The benefits offered by this technology could play a vital role in helping to lift the UK out of recession and allowing companies and individuals to thrive in a challenging economic climate.”

Didcot MP Ed Vaizey said: “It will be vital for local businesses and residents, and put us ahead of the game. I fought hard for broadband a few years ago, and I will ensure that the rest of my constituency benefits from superfast broadband as soon as possible.”

The most likely technology to be installed will see fibre optic cables linking the exchange to outdoor street cabinets, allowing connection speeds of up to 40 megabits per second. Download speeds could reach 60mb/s.