Leading telecoms provider BT has announced that it is to upgrade the broadband speed to more than double the headline speeds for its residential and corporate users, meaning small businesses in IT are set to benefit.

BT's decision follows Lord Carter's Digital Britain report, which highlighted the need for faster internet speeds in the UK.

Gavin Patterson, the chief executive officer at BT Retail, said that high-speed broadband provides a faster and more reliable service which will allow people to transform their approach to living, working, playing and learning.

He continued: "We believe the true value of broadband is in helping customers enjoy the exciting new services that it makes possible.

"In line with the government's Digital Britain review, we will be making higher speeds more widely available."

BT is the world's oldest telecommunications company, founded at the Electric Telegraph Company in 1846 before expanding to an international network within the space of ten years, reducing contact times from hours or days to minutes or seconds.

In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were guaranteed response times and allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues.