Poor broadband in the City 'could damage London's global status'

Thousands of firms in London's financial district are relying on poor or outdated broadband, MPs have been warned.

According to the City of London Corporation, which is the local authority responsible for the Square Mile, slow broadband in the capital could seriously damage the economy. In a letter to the Business, Innovation and Skills select committee, the group said that around 9,000 London businesses in the City are suffering at the hands of dated broadband.

In the letter, the corporation said: "There is deep concern that the attractiveness of the City is increasingly disadvantaged by the lack of fast broadband connectivity at an affordable level."

The corporation also said that while meetings have been held between the organisation's officials and broadband providers, these have only yielded limited success, with more progress required.

The written submission added that the Square Mile is home to a huge number of start-up companies, many of which are hi-tech businesses. As such, they rely heavily on fast and reliable broadband - a failure to provide this could stop the SMEs from growing and potentially "damage London’s position as a leading edge global city".

Another concern raised by the City of London Corporation was that there is a skills shortage for businesses looking to hire tech personnel. Iain Wright, the Labour MP for Hartlepool, explained to The Independent that the Government needs to listen to these concerns and realise that the UK's digital economy is transforming and these changing needs must be met.

Earlier this month the Government created a Universal Service Obligation (USO), which will give people the legal right to request a connection to broadband with speeds of 10 Mbps - anyone who cannot access broadband of at least this speed can hold the providers to account. However, even these speeds, though adequate for families and some businesses, are well below the 'superfast' broadband speeds of 24 Mbps.

Almost all businesses today need reliable, superfast broadband, which is not always available in their area, so getting a dedicated leased line for the premises can be the best solution. hSo provides managed networks designed for business - to get an instant cost for a leased line at your location, visit our online leased line price checker.

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