BT Retail today promised to begin trials of a "mega-fast" 8Mbps broadband service from April, with the aim of rolling it out to consumer and business customers by the end of the year.

The trial, which follows on from the telco's 2Mbps service upgrade last month, is expected to last approximately 10 to 12 weeks. A larger trial is expected in the summer following a technical pilot.

BT Retail said that the 8Mbps service is being prepared to cope with expected demand for applications such as video-over-broadband and broadband TV.

The first phase of the trial will be internal, but BT stated that "future information on customer involvement will be issued in the near future".