INTERNET service provider Onyx Internet is to launch a high-speed broadband service in the region.
The service will provide high-speed Internet connections from exchanges in Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough.
The connection will be provided through the fibre network of easynet, the Internet business of budget airline easyJet.
Neil Stephenson, sales and marketing director at Onyx Internet, said the service, which offers download speeds of up to eight megabytes a second, was crucial to business broadband uptake across the region.
He said: "The launch of the new service sets the trend for the future of broadband, which will see broadband speeds ever increasing over the next few years."
Most broadband services at present are restricted to bandwidth speeds of up to two megabytes a second.
Earlier this week, BT announced that broadband take-up in the UK had exceeded four million, with one new broadband user every 20 seconds.
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