The government will today put renewed pressure on telecoms companies to invest in ultra-fast broadband networks, warning that the UK economy could suffer if they do not.

Stephen Timms, the competitiveness minister, has called companies including BT, Virgin Media, BSkyB, Vodafone and Carphone Warehouse to a summit meeting today to discuss building a network that would allow consumers to download music, films and other material over the internet at much higher speeds than today.