First Staffordshire broadband areas named as Rugeley and Colton
The first rural areas in Staffordshire to receive superfast broadband next year have been named.
Homes and businesses in Colton, near Cannock Chase, and parts of Rugeley will have access to the 24Mbps service from April.
It is being funded by BT, Staffordshire County Council and the government.
The partnership aims to bring faster fibre broadband to 97% of Staffordshire homes by 2015, the county council said.
More than a million metres of fibre optic cable will be laid for the £27m project.
The news follows an announcement in May where BT struck a deal with county council to improve broadband in rural Staffordshire.
A spokesman for Staffordshire County Council said: "This infrastructure is as important as road or rail and will put us on a par with other areas of the UK."