OTTAWA -- Many households in Ontario and Quebec are set to see their Internet speeds increase dramatically according to Bell, as the company announced plans Thursday to install new fibre cables to replace older infrastructure in several cities.

Bell said it will begin its three-year plan to install high-speed Fibre to the Home (FTTH) across the Quebec City region in 2010. Quebec City was chosen because it can be “completed quickly and economically because it is served largely by aerial infrastructure — above-ground wiring on utility poles,”the release stated.

It also noted that Quebec City is the largest urban centre in Canada to be selected to date for the deployment of FTTH.

Often referred to as the final step for high speed, FTTH replaces the last mile copper connection from the neighbourhood node to the home with glass or optical fibre. At minimum, homes with fibre have the potential for 100 Megabits per second connections. Currently, most household in Canada receive around two to seven Mbps.

Japan, Singapore, Korea and Western Europe have been leading the way for FTTH for years, with infrastructure in the U.S. and Canada lagging.

Bell also announced it will deploy FTTH in all new urban and suburban housing developments in Ontario and Quebec beginning in the second half of 2010. This is in addition to the company’s deployment of Fibre to the Building (FTTB) to multi-dwelling units already under way. Bell said its FTTB will deliver 60-Mbps service to around 1,600 condominiums and apartment buildings in Ontario and Quebec by the end of 2012. The company said it expected 3.6 million households in Quebec and Ontario will be enhanced by the end of 2010.

Another 1.8 million homes in Toronto and Montreal are expected to see Fibre-to-the-Node (FTTN) technology in the first quarter of 2010. FTTN offers download speeds of up to 25 Mbps, according to Bell.