Lack of super-fast broadband is holding back London businesses
Tens of thousands of small businesses in London are being held back by “painfully slow” internet access.
Despite London’s position as Europe’s leading tech city, Westminster City Council said less than half the borough, 47 per cent, has access to super-fast broadband.
The problem is worse for SMEs, which account for 65 per cent of the borough’s 50,000 businesses, and cannot afford premium-grade business services, it said.
Westminster councillor Daniel Astaire said: “It is economically illiterate: over half of Westminster is stuck with painfully slow broadband, leaving London lagging behind other European capitals.”
The Mayor’s office says that super-fast internet could boost London’s economy by around £4bn by 2024.