Cisco Systems is developing an ultra-high-speed system for internet access with a number of US service providers, according to people close to the company.

The move by the US telecommunications equipment maker comes just weeks after Googlepromised it would build an ultra-high-speed fibre-optic system. The Federal Communications Commission, the US media regulator, is preparing to unveil its national broadband strategy next month.

Some of Cisco’s biggest customers, including AT&T and Comcast, the leading telecoms and cable companies, are expected to come under pressure to invest more in high- speed networks once the FCC unveils its plan.

The plan will include recommendations on the private sector’s role in achieving the FCC’s goal of building networks with speeds of 100 megabits per second for 100m households by 2020.

The FCC in September projected that upgrading networks and building new ones could cost anything from $20bn to $350bn, depending on the speed of the networks.

Cisco declined to comment on its plans.

David Kaut, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus in Washington, said Cisco’s move, like Google’s, would help the private sector determine whether there was real consumer demand for huge amounts of bandwidth, or whether current levels of 5 or 10 megabits were sufficient.

Blair Levin, executive director of the FCC’s broadband plan, told the Financial Times that he expected demand to be high in the case of Google’s so-called testbed, which aims to connect up to 500,000 Americans.