While this might sound great, Britain is lagging behind many of its European peers in the race to deliver “gold standard” full-fibre networks that generate speeds of one Gbps,

Only four percent of premises are connected, compared with Spain on 71 percent and Portugal on 89 percent.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DMCS) said it would support investment in “the most difficult to reach” rural areas, where it estimates that some three to five billion pounds of additional funding is likely to be needed.

The government said it hoped much of the population would have access to 5 G and 15 million premises would have full-fibre broadband by 2025. It hopes to see full-fibre broadband coverage across all the country by 2033.

“We want everyone in the UK to benefit from world-class connectivity no matter where they live, work or travel”, culture minister Jeremy Wright said.

BT has set out its targets for full-fibre connections, but it has until now largely focused on a fibre-copper hybrid technology which delivers slower speeds.

As businesses and households want faster speeds, smaller providers have developed, with CityFibre wanting to build its full-fibre networks.

Among the government recommendations, it said it would reform the regulatory environment to drive investment and competition in different local markets.