BT is boosting the broadband speed of 700,000 customers for free!

Find out if you qualify for the broadband boost

If you live in the countryside then you're probably familiar with the rural broadband struggle – you were probably able to make a cup of tea in the time it took this page to load. But don't despair a BT superfast broadband update could be coming to your rescue.

Related: Worried your kids are spending too much time online? BT has a solution

BT has announced that it will be upgrading around 700,000 customers to BT superfast broadband for free. The upgrade will largely focus on households and businesses in more rural areas that are still using old copper broadband lines.

Free BT superfast broadband update

study room with white wall and wooden flooring

(Image credit: Future PLC/ Neale Smith)

BT is aiming to upgrade these lines by next summer to fibre cables which will see broadband speeds boosted from 10Mbps to 50Mps. Not to mention that customers new BT superfast broadband update will be far more reliable.

Other than being able to binge-watch the Capture or Peaky Blinders without buffering enforced tea breaks, the best part is BT won't charge customers a penny for the upgrade.

If you qualify for the upgrade you will receive an email or a letter from BT notifying you in advance.

study room with grey wall and desktop computer

(Image credit: Future PLC/ Colin Poole)

A new broadband hub will be sent to your address along with installation instructions. Once the hub has been an installed the Openreach will complete the upgrade for you.

When you next receive a bill from BT, the new broadband plan will be detailed. However, your monthly price and length of contract will all stay the same as before the upgrade.

BT says that the upgrade will currently focus on those with copper broadband and will begin moving customers this month.

room with white walls and wooden table and chair

(Image credit: Future PLC/ Colin Poole)

However, if you're one of the 10 per cent of BT customers who are stuck without fibre broadband because of where you live, you should see your broadband bill slashed in price.

BT says it will automatically cut the price of the broadband bill of customers living in these areas. The company can't confirm how much bills will be cut by but promised to do everything it can to provide the fastest and most reliable broadband connections to these customers.

Related: Martin Lewis says THESE are the best broadband deals and THIS WEEK is the time to switch

If you need us we'll be standing by the postbox waiting for our BT upgrade  like an 11-year-old awaiting a  Hogwart's acceptance letter.

Rebecca Knight
Deputy Editor, Digital

Rebecca Knight has been the Deputy Editor on the Ideal Home Website since 2022. She graduated with a Masters degree in magazine journalism from City, University of London in 2018, before starting her journalism career as a staff writer on women's weekly magazines. She fell into the world of homes and interiors after joining the Ideal Home website team in 2019 as a Digital Writer. In 2020 she moved into position of Homes News Editor working across Homes & Gardens, LivingEtc, Real Homes, Gardeningetc and Ideal Home covering everything from the latest viral cleaning hack to the next big interior trend.