A microwave broadband trial has brought speeds of up to 80Mbps to homes and businesses in the remote Devon village of Northlew.
The high-speed connection is provided by a 4km microwave radio link that eradicates the need for a fibre optic cable to be laid underground, which traditionally requires extensive excavations.
Although the village only has around 240 homes and businesses, around half of those have already been connected to the superfast service, with more waiting in the wings to be connected over the coming weeks.
Paul Coles, BT South West regional manager, explained how the connection works: "The radio link connects to a new broadband cabinet near the centre of the village, which offers all the usual fibre broadband speeds and benefits.
"This is just one example of many of an innovative approach to bringing fibre based broadband to remote communities - and that innovation will continue," he said.
The company is halfway through its four-year plan to install fibre broadband across the South West via its commercial programme and with other public sector partners.
Devon County Councillor James McInnes said: "This is another example of how the Connecting Devon and Somerset programme is bringing superfast broadband to communities who otherwise would not be getting it. By proving the value of this new technology, we hope that it will be used in other appropriate locations in the future."
Other communities in the South West of England will be trialling this technology over the coming months, with plans to roll it out in the Gloucestershire village of Hardwicke with support from the Fastershire partnership that includes Gloucestershire County Council, Herefordshire Council and BT.
Connecting Devon and Somerset aims to connect 90 per cent of premises by the end of 2016, offering minimum speeds of 2Mbps to everyone.
