BT plans to roll out "ultra-fast" broadband to homes and businesses next year, offering one of the fastest speeds in Europe and the world.

The telecoms giant said on Friday that more than 7m premises now have access to fibre-based broadband, and it expects to start doubling standard broadband speeds from up-to-40Mbps (megabits per second) to up-to-80Mbps this spring, earlier than planned. Two thirds of homes and offices supplied by BT will benefit from these faster speeds by the end of 2014.

This compares with Virgin Media's planned new top speed of 120Mbps, up from 100Mbps, as part of an upgrade that begins this month.

The majority of BT's fibre connection is to so-called "cabinets" or junction boxes at the end of the road, with a copper line running to the office or house.

The company is also about to launch an up-to-330Mbps ultra-fast Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) service on demand. After running a successful trial in St Agnes in Cornwall, it will conduct further trials this summer and intends to roll out direct fibre-optic connections to offices and homes in the spring of 2013. BT believes ultra-fast broadband will appeal mainly to small and medium sized businesses that need to send and receive large amounts of data. It could also benefit local authorities, a BT spokesman said.

It is unclear at the moment how much ultra-fast broadband would cost. "Some internet service providers may choose to pass on the charge whereas others might absorb it in return for a long-term contract. It may also be the case that local authorities wish to assist with installation costs if they deem FTTP to be a priority," the spokesman said.

BT Openreach chief executive Olivia Garfield said: "FTTP on demand is a significant development for Broadband Britain. Essentially, it could make our fastest speeds available wherever we deploy fibre. This will be welcome news for small businesses who may wish to benefit from the competitive advantage that such speeds provide.

"We are also doubling the speed of our standard fibre broadband this spring giving internet service providers the chance to offer speeds of up to 80Mbps. This will ensure that residential customers have world-class speeds for all their family's needs."

The Cornwall trial showed that additional fibre can be run on demand to a home or office in a Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) enabled area. Previously FTTP speeds were not possible in FTTC enabled areas but BT has come up with a solution that takes advantage of the fibre it has already deployed between the exchange and the street cabinet.

The news came as BT, Britain's biggest broadband retailer with over 6 million customers, reported an 18% rise in adjusted profits before tax to £628m between October and December, its third quarter. Revenues were down 5% to £4.8bn, however.