Dundee's sewers will soon be used to deliver high-speed communications to every home and business in the city.

Fibre-optic cable capable of speeds in excess of 100 Mbps is to be fed through the city's sewer system by H2O Networks in a £30m project.

Dundee has a thriving technology and digital entertainment industry and will be the first Scottish city to benefit from H2O's Fibrecity network. Work will begin within the next six months and the majority of the fibre will be put in the sewers using H2O's own patented system.

It will bring fibre connectivity to more than 55,000 homes in Dundee which will allow home users and businesses to benefit.

Dundee City Council has linked two city centre offices using H2O's ultra high-speed network in order to share information quickly and simply, and was keen for Dundee to be the first Scottish "Fibrecity".

Joe Morrow, convener of Dundee City Council's economic development committee, said: "Dundee is already a recognised leader, not just in biotechnology and digital media, but in the use of technology to benefit its communities.

"I am sure that the plans revealed in this announcement will provide even more opportunities for the business community in Dundee to gain competitive advantage, and to keep the city at the forefront of the broadband economy."

It is hoped the project will help to attract new businesses and investment into Dundee. It will allow businesses to transfer files and documents between offices with no time delays; provide greater bandwidth to enable people to work from home more easily; and give house access to higher-quality services such as telephone calls over the internet, video streaming and IPTV (Internet Protocol Television).

Elfed Thomas,chief executive of H2O Networks, said: "Many households and broadband customers have insufficient connectivity bandwidths because they are attached to legacy networks deployed in the 20th century that just can't cope with demand. Our solution is a totally new network that does not try to connect old and new cables. With speeds in excess of 100 Mbps, it brings us right into the 21st century and beyond."