The City of London (COL) is dedicated to providing high-quality services for the residents and business communities of the ‘Square Mile’. COL believes that a ‘digital divide’ exists in the City, and that residents are unable to access affordable high-speed broadband connections. High-speed broadband in the UK is defined as providing download speeds of at least 24 Mbit/s to users . It is faster and more reliable than traditional broadband speeds. Benefits for residential users include:
• Downloading films, music and other large files from the internet is much faster
• Greater opportunity for people to work more productively from home
• Improved video and voice connections using the internet (e.g. Skype, webcams, high definition video)
Based on current publicly available information, no operator has plans to provide a high-speed, affordable broadband network for residents across the City. In addition, mobile coverage is variable due to the density of the City, an issue that can be compounded by the large number of day visitors who use the wireless networks. COL is therefore embarking on a programme with the objective of achieving ubiquitous high-speed and affordable wireless and fixed connectivity across the City. The purpose of this market consultation is to engage with residents to establish market demand and supply in the City. We warmly welcome any response you can provide to the questions below.
Any questions or queries should be directed to connectivity@cityoflondon.gov.uk.
Privacy statement: this research is being undertaken by the City of London Corporation to establish the level of and location of demand for high-speed broadband services in the City. Cooperation with this research is voluntary. Your identity and response will be treated as confidential, will be stored securely, and will be used only for research purposes. Your details will not be used to send unsolicited mail nor will we pass on email addresses to others for this purpose. Respondents are entitled to have or all of the record of the research destroyed or deleted at any stage.
