The telecoms watchdog today announced rules ensuring BT shares its network of telegraph poles and underground ducts with rival providers to accelerate the roll-out of super-fast broadband.

Ofcom wants to promote competition and investment in high-speed broadband services across the UK.

BT welcomed Ofcom’s announcement, pointing out that it had been providing rivals with access to its fibre lines for months.

Ofcom said it also wants the group to open up its physical infrastructure of telegraph poles and ducts to increase competition and availability.

Rival providers could lay their own optical fibre cables without having to dig up pavements, which could drive better access to high-speed broadband in rural areas.

The regulator hopes its moves will see many more households enjoy cable broadband access, which has the potential to deliver speeds of up to 50 to 100 megabits-per-second.

BT will be able to charge wholesale fees for access to its fibre and physical network without a limit imposed by Ofcom, as the regulator said costs would be constrained by the wider competitive market.

Ofcom said: "Over the past two years, UK consumers have started to enjoy the benefits of the next generation of broadband, with a number of companies starting to invest in infrastructure. But there is a long way to go to deliver the networks of the future that the UK needs.

"Ofcom believes that competition and investment in super-fast broadband can be delivered in both urban and rural areas. Today’s statement is designed to provide a further spur to investment by confirming the regulatory framework for these services."

The measures build upon competition in the UK’s broadband services, which has allowed providers such as Sky and TalkTalk to offer services over BT’s copper telephone network.

Ofcom’s chief executive Ed Richards said: "The development of the UK’s super-fast broadband future is well under way with the roll-out of services in large parts of the country.

"Today Ofcom has finalised a clear regulatory framework to promote investment, competition and innovation to enable as many consumers as possible to benefit from these exciting new services."

BT said: "This statement is reassuring in that Ofcom agrees that we have been providing suitable unbundled access to our fibre for some months now, that our product provides others with substantial control and that it will be the most likely way that fibre will be delivered in the future.

"That recognition, combined with us having pricing freedom for that product, provides much of the regulatory clarity and certainty that we have been seeking.

"While Ofcom have been conducting this consultation, BT has been hard at work with our fibre roll-out. More than two million premises now have access to fibre broadband and we are on track to pass four million premises by the end of this year.

"This is one of the fastest and most ambitious deployment plans in the world and so we are pleased that Ofcom is providing us with this level of regulatory clarity and certainty."