UK Smart City Race

Some UK cities still behind the connectivity race.

19:44 04 July 2018

Millions of pounds have already been invested in improving Internet connectivity throughout the UK in order to address the growing needs of businesses and residents and meet the requirements of building smart cities and Internet of things. But what is exactly being done to make sure that the UK does not fall behind other countries in the connectivity race.

 

Many UK cities have partnered with broadband providers to provide fast, reliable internet connection to businesses and residents in their area. An example is Peterborough City Council, which partnered with Vodafone and CityFibre to launch Fibre-to-the-premises programme designed to extend the full-fibre broadband network not just to business communities but also homes and other firms throughout the city. Three years after the launch, all major business parks are now on the new network, over 100 council sites are connected, more than 25per cent of organisations across the city have been registered and an additional 220 CCTV and Wi-Fi sites have been added.

 

Such project, although extremely successful, is yet to be launched to some areas in the United Kingdom, which put them at risk of lagging behind. This is one of the reasons why the UK lies fourth in the global connectivity league, behind South Korea and Iceland. If we want to become a world-leader in the connectivity race, more funding and initiatives are needed to make sure that all our cities are connected using smart, reliable technologies.