Superfast broadband speeds into the countryside Today marks the single biggest day so far for Britain's superfast rural broadband roll-out, the Government has claimed. New connections were turned on this morning in an additional 5,000 homes and businesses across Wiltshire and South Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent and Medway, Cheshire, the Cotswolds and Shropshire in what has been dubbed "super switch on day." The move means more than 200,000 premises have now been connected as part of a £1.1bn project to wire up areas that are not commercially viable for existing broadband providers such as BT and Virgin. The Government had aimed for superfast connections to reach a total of 90 per cent of British homes and businesses by 2015, but now says it is ahead of its revised plans to connect 95 per cent by 2017. It claims the national rollout is accelerating, with 10,000 premises per week currently gaining access to superfast broadband. This is forecast to increase to 40,000 per week by summer 2014. Figures compiled over the summer indicated that 73 per cent of UK premises could already connect to superfast broadband, which allows consumers to stream HD films and businesses to use advanced video-conferencing. Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said "The roll-out of superfast broadband has the potential to transform rural areas, bridging the age-old gap between rural and urban. It will allow businesses to grow and expand and communities to access services in a way that they've not been able to before. Maria Miller, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, claimed the UK is now "well ahead of other major European countries in many respects."