Broadband users in Bournemouth are set to benefit from even faster speeds when the town becomes a Fibrecity in 2011, it has been claimed.

Recent studies by Ofcom highlighted that many broadband customers only get around half the speeds advertised, however, Fibrecity Holdings has blamed this on the fact that many areas still get broadband via old copper networks.

Elfed Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of the i3 Group that owns Fibrecity Holdings, told the Bournemouth Echo: "The latest UK broadband speeds are simply a result of the inadequate infrastructure that exists in this country, and the market is being constrained by three or four players who are misleading the public."

He added that there are currently only small pockets of households that benefit from "true fibre to the home", however this is set to change when more than one million homes become connected to Fibrecity over the next four years.

Residents in Bournemouth will have access to 100Mb broadband via service providers Fibreband, Velocity 1 and Vispa, once Fibrecity is up and running.