NORTH Essex is to be brought up to speed under plans to connect thousands of homes and businesses to superfast internet broadband.

Households in Colchester, Clacton, Tiptree, Manningtree and Wivenhoe are set to benefit from state-of-the-art fibre broadband connections offering a top speed of 100Mbps, compared to 40Mbps currently available.

It will mean a family could download a movie, watch a TV replay, surf the net and play games online, all at the same time.

A song could be downloaded in about two seconds, an album in 30 seconds and a feature-length HD movie in 10 minutes.

The plans are part of a £2.5billion network upgrade by BT.

The company hopes to make the technology available to two-thirds of UK homes by 2015.

In Essex 530,000 homes and businesses will be connected to the superfast network by next autumn.

Dave Hughes, BT’s regional director, said: “Our latest investment in Essex will propel internet users at home and at work into the 21st century fast lane.”

Mr Hughes said connecting rural areas would require extra investment, including Government funding.

He added: “BT is playing its part in delivering faster broadband across the UK – but there needs to be a collective effort to ensure no part of Essex is left behind.’’ The announcement follows plans by Colchester Council to make the town one of the best places to surf the net after a survey last year found the average broadband speed in the borough was 4.23Mbps – the eighth slowest in Britain.

The council plans to use the town’s 125 CCTV cameras to set up high-speed broadband for businesses and wireless connections for residents and visitors.