The London Assembly has heard how parts of the capital are blighted by ‘not-spots’ where Londoners struggle with slow internet, reports Noah Vickers, Local Democracy Reporter

Broadband internet (credit Compare Fibre via Unsplash) — Photo by Compare Fibre on Unsplash

Further action is needed to encourage the roll-out of full-fibre internet connectivity across London, City Hall was told on Tuesday (11th) – with Enfield, Barnet and Haringey named as the three worst boroughs for broadband.

While significant progress has been made in boosting high-speed coverage in the capital over recent years, parts of the city are still blighted by ‘not-spots’ where Londoners struggle with slow internet.

As well as causing problems for families and households, the London Assembly was told by a representative from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) that connectivity issues in some areas of the capital are damaging trade.

Speaking at a meeting of the assembly’s economy, culture and skills committee, the FSB’s Laura Timm said: “There’s a lot of ‘not-spots’, where business owners are struggling. We even have cases where business owners say that across the street, they can have a superfast fibre connection, but on their side of the street, they cannot.”

According to Ofcom data analysed by City Hall, some 66.7% of London premises had full-fibre broadband available to them, as of July last year. Full-fibre provides the fastest internet speeds available in the UK and is less likely to slow down during busy periods.

In some boroughs, however, the figure drops considerably lower. Enfield is the worst, with only 31.6% having full fibre coverage, and next worst is Barnet, with only 44.2%. Haringey is third worst on 49%.

In contrast, neighbouring Waltham Forest is the joint-second best for connectivity, with 80% having full-fibre broadband, behind only Barking and Dagenham on 86%.

Laura added: “Although general coverage is pretty good, we also have case studies from people from outside of London who’ve moved to London and have actually been so surprised, because they were expecting a better connection. They used to have a better connection living outside of the London area, and they’re now struggling.”

Meanwhile, some smaller pockets of the city still don’t have connections of 30Mb/s or higher. This is the speed generally deemed necessary to comfortably cover the essential internet demands of small households, supporting between up to four devices or users.

In Upminster, for example, 12% of premises don’t have 30Mb/s, and a further 7.4% don’t even have connections of 10Mb/s.

Parts of central London struggle with even worse proportions of coverage. In St James’ ward in Westminster, which includes the Houses of Parliament, 33.1% of premises don’t have connections of 30 Mb/s or higher. The same is true for 32.1% of the ‘square mile’ of the City of London.

This is partly due to the complexity of securing ‘wayleave’ agreements, where landlords grant permission for broadband companies to install cables, for example, by temporarily drilling a hole in their property. The process of securing this permission – and even working out who to ask for it – can take a long time.

Andrew Ferguson, editor-in-chief of broadband comparison site Think Broadband, told Wired magazine in 2019: “There’s weird little bits of London where the borough doesn’t own the little bit of pavement in front of the building, because of some agreement from 400 years ago. That’s how complex London is.”

Trevor Dorling, director of digital at Greenwich Council, told Tuesday’s committee meeting that the broadband market has also seen a “contraction” over the last 18 months, with companies less willing to invest in expanding coverage across the city.

“It’s a considerable number [of homes without gigabit internet connection capabilities],” he said. “And if we could be confident that that was going to be addressed in the next six months or the next two years, then I think we could sort of sit back and say ‘Well, we’ve just got to allow the market to do what it’s got to do’.

“But I think there’s a serious concern that we’ll back here in two years’ time, not having made much progress with those dwellings which haven’t got connectivity.”

He added: “We know the government is looking at measures that it can introduce for urban areas. I think it would be good if that could be accelerated. The mayor has published his Growth Plan for London. Connectivity features in that [plan], and it has to underpin that.

“For us in Greenwich – but I think it’s true for all of us – we see it as absolutely crucial for our economy, for the amenity of our residents, for the changing nature of the economy, people working from home, people studying at home and so on, but also the delivery of the next generation of public services.”

In Sir Sadiq Khan’s London Growth Plan, mentioned by Dorling, the mayor wrote: “Improving internet access across the city will support productivity, better public services and safer local places.

“For example, SMEs are missing out on an estimated £28bn in annual revenue due to slow and unreliable workplace broadband. Installing full fibre broadband allows the city to expand CCTV coverage and install sensors to monitor traffic congestion and air quality.

“London will continue to expand full fibre, improve capacity in mobile networks to boost 5G coverage and make WiFi access easier, by working in partnership with industry.”

The full data can be viewed online:
Visit ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/coverage-and-speeds/connected-nations-2024/interactive-report-2024/

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