More than 77,000 homes and businesses across the Black Country are to benefit from super-fast broadband as part of a major expansion by telecoms giant BT.

Bilston, Fordhouses, Horseley Fields, Penn, Brierley Hill, Lye and Stourbridge as well as homes and businesses served by Midland and Smallbrook exchanges in the centre of Birmingham will be among the latest communities to be included in a £2.5 billion roll-out of fibre optic broadband.

It will take the number of Black Country and Birmingham homes and businesses being served by the new super-fast network to more than 356,000.

The latest upgrades are due to be completed during 2012.

The changes could mean some householders getting broadband speeds of up to 100mbps, rising to 300mbps in the spring.

This compares with 6.8Mbps, the average actual speed of all UK broadband according to Ofcom’s latest research published in July 2011.

The news has been welcomed by business leaders.

Mike Dell, president of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce, said: “In these challenging economic times this is great news from BT and its importance to the economy of the Black Country cannot be underestimated.

“Access to fast broadband is absolutely vital for firms and households. It gives businesses a competitive edge in today’s crowded marketplace and provides access to new markets with the potential of new jobs.

John Dovey, BT’s regional director for the West Midlands, said: “This latest major investment is a tremendous boost for Wolverhampton, Birmingham and the Black Country. “At a stroke, small and medium sized firms will have access to big business speeds at much lower costs.”