A BRITISH-designed internet system promises to break the “four-minute mile” of broadband technology by delivering the fastest web service on the planet to British households.

Residents in Shoreditch, East London, will become the first to test a new advance in broadband technology when they switch on a new set-top box that combines the functions of a television and computer.

Introduced this month, the system will allow 20,000 households to surf the web and download material at speeds up to 2,000 times faster than present services. Users will, for example, be able to download all 32,640 pages of the Encyclopaedia Britannica in less than seven seconds, managers of the government-funded project said.

Most commercially-available broadband connections operate at a speed of 2 megabits per second (2Mb/s), but the Shoreditch project can access internet images and content at a speed of up to 2 billions of bits per second (2Gb/s).

The key to the speed of the new system is a high-security “powerhouse” located in London’s Docklands. The Telehouse data centre houses 13,000 square metres (140,000 sq ft) of fibre-optic telecommunications and IT infrastructure required to power the most high-speed connections.

Nicknamed “CTU”, after the high-tech counter-terrorist headquarters in the American television series, 24, the Telehouse centre is said to be one of the most secure locations in Britain.

It is designed to provide back-up power for Britain’s vital network services in the event of a terrorist attack and its environmental sensors ensure that high-powered connections, such as the Shoreditch project, do not melt through excessive heat.

Ministers have earmarked £12 million for the Shoreditch project as the centrepiece of its New Deal for the Communities. It is designed to connect residents of deprived estates with a range of internet services and community television channels. If it is a success, it will be provided to communities across Britain.

Residents will receive an infra-red wireless keyboard and remote control that will turn their television into a computer desktop-style environment. Microsoft, Homechoice and ITN are providing software and television channels for the project.

James Morris, chief executive of Digital Bridge, said: “Producing a bandwidth of this magnitude is the IT equivalent of breaking the four-minute mile.”

• There are 76 million websites awaiting the curious surfer, but Britain’s internet users are hooked to just six sites, a government survey has found. The web-surfer is something of a dying breed, according to a Cabinet Office report.

  It found that computer users were addicted to a small number of “supersites” that we cannot live without, with banking, shopping, travel and news dominating web tastes.

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