Telecoms operator BT has predicted that Sunderland (Tyne and Wear, UK) could be the first British city to achieve "almost" ubiquitous superfast broadband ISP connectivity after confirming that it planned to bring its 'up to' 40-300Mbps capable FTTC and FTTP technology to 90% of city homes and businesses by summer 2012.

This result is achieved when BT's own 90% target is combined with the presence of other ISPs / cable operators in the city, including all of their mutual plans for further expansion.



BT admits that its forward looking plan and dates are still subject to change, although they're unlikely to have announced such a figure without being fairly confident of its success.

Readers might recall that the governments Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office recently allocated £3,420,000 to Tyne and Wear, which is intended to help the 28% of poorly served rural premises in that region gain access to faster broadband.