BT has kicked off trials of its Long Reach VDSL technology with the hope of improving broadband speeds that can severely lag over lengthy telephone lines.

The tech was deployed by Openreach engineers to about 20 households in a small village in the Outer Hebrides over the past few days. BT claimed that "initial results are encouraging" with an apparent boost to broadband speeds in North Tolsta on the Isle of Lewis.

BT, which is battling Ofcom's proposed overhaul of its infrastructure business, was quick to say that Openreach was "keen to find a solution" to tackling broadband speed limits in rural areas of the UK. It added: "This is particularly the case given it shares the UK government’s ambition that all premises receive a minimum of 10Mbps regardless of how remote they are."

The government plans to bring in a universal service obligation that will allow ISP customers to demand broadband speeds of at least 10 megabits per second for their Internet connections—regardless of where they are in the country.

Openreach boss Clive Selley said: “Getting faster speeds to rural communities is one of my biggest priorities, so testing new solutions in the field like this is a crucial part of that process."

He claimed that Long Reach VDSL tech—which is only at a proof of concept stage—could improve broadband speeds "for thousands of homes and businesses across Scotland and the rest of the UK."

Those households connected by long phone lines between 1.5 to a little over two miles could see speeds of at least 10Mbps courtesy of Long Reach VDSL, BT has said. But more remote homes, it's worth noting, will still have to rely on satellite broadband technology.

In some urban areas where broadband speeds continue to dawdle, meanwhile, BT has plans to start offering its so-called G.fast tech, which promises to bring download speeds of 300Mbps alongside, we expect, a fairly hefty price tag.