BackOn 29 June, the London Assembly published its report ‘Digital Connectivity in London’ which alarmingly found that the capital lags behind other cities in the country, ranking 30th out of 63 UK cities in terms of high speed broadband coverage.
Cities such as York, Coventry, and Edinburgh outperform London’s digital connectivity, boasting upload and download speeds of 1,000 megabits per second, and earning the nickname “Gigabit Cities”. London, on the other hand, suffers from “not-spots” around the city with limited 4G coverage and a lack of full fibre connections in its buildings.
With 5G around the corner, now is a great time to address the existing connectivity divide to make sure 5G delivers on its potential. Indeed, there is a fear that if the roll out of 5G is not carefully planned, then the UK will not succeed in its ambition to be a global leader in digital connectivity.
As the London Assembly is the principal body who exercises influence on the Mayor’s new digital strategy, this report is both timely and encouraging. The report highlights the areas where London’s Mayor could improve, but it also praise initiatives which have been successful in raising the standards of connectivity in London.
For example, the report recognises the value in the Greater London Authority’s connectivity map, praises Boris Johnson’s efforts to support the previous Government’s Super Connected Cities Voucher Scheme and his endorsement of WiredScore’s digital connectivity rating scheme for commercial real estate.
You can read the report in full here.
