Superfast broadband providing speeds more than 100 times faster than normal networks is being installed in two Kent towns as part of a massive £40 million investment.

The network, which will be run by Vfast, is set to go live in Chatham and Gillingham in January.

Promising download speeds of a gigabyte per second, the fibre based broadband provider says it will bring "next generation digital connectivity" to the almost every home and business in the towns.

The company has partnered with Vodafone and TalkTalk to provide the platform for residential and commercial customers.

Many current internet providers offer download speeds of between 35 megabytes per second to about 100Mb in some areas – 100 times less than Vfast says it will provide.

It is part of an overall £4bn investment in internet infrastructure across the country by CityFibre – the UK's largest independent fibre broadband platform.

Constructing the network started in February and will see all fibre cables from the server directly to the customer's door promising faster speeds instead of using copper wiring for part of the network.

Aideen Sadler, from CityFibre, said: “We are delighted to announce Vfast’s arrival in Chatham and Gillingham, offering an exciting and sought-after Gigabit broadband home service.

“We are proud of our network. It will help support Medway’s many communities as we adapt to living with Covid-19 which means they will have access to the fastest and most reliable broadband speeds in the UK.

“We look forward to seeing even more homes and businesses take advantage of this level of connectivity and what it can enable in the future.”

Benjamin Doherty, chief technical officer of Vfast, said: “We’re thrilled to be working with CityFibre on its Kent expansion project. We will be offering pure fibre to the residents of Chatham and Gillingham, backed by Vfast’s first class support from our Kent based call centre.

“The appetite for consumer bandwidth is only growing and we are proud to be one of the ISPs at the fore front of this revolution.

“Our local network and local approach will provide customers with gigabit services, whilst allowing us to bring our services to a whole new audience.”

The service is being provided in 60 places across the UK as CityFibre aims to create what it calls Gigabit Cities providing eight million households.

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