LONDON - The first stage of a scheme to help bring the fastest broadband to businesses, schools and hospitals was launched in the United Kingdom on Sunday.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said the full fiber networks will offer connection speeds of 1,000 megabytes per second in six pilot areas.

Superfast broadband could allow hospitals to share high-definition graphics of medical scans in seconds to improve diagnosis speeds. It will also enable schools to see a vast increase in the number of pupils who can stream educational videos at the same time.

Test projects will go ahead in Aberdeen, West Sussex, Coventry and Warwickshire, Bristol and Bath, West Yorkshire and in Greater Manchester, said the DCMS.

Each of the projects will get around 10 million pounds ($13 million) of government funding to test innovative ways of connecting offices and public sector buildings with the next generation of broadband.

The announcement is the first step in a four-year program unveiled by UK Chancellor Philip Hammond in his spring budget to encourage the growth of superfast broadband across Britain.

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Andrew Jones said: "How we live and work today is directly affected by how good our broadband connection is. For our economy to thrive, it is vital we make smart investments to ensure our digital infrastructure is world class and fit for the future."

Xinhua