London's recovery starts with you

The Libraries and their computers are crucial for so many people, from children through teenagers through adults to Seniors - so much is done on line these days, and with no access toi computers e-mail etc too many are "shut out" from things.    Our Libraries are very valuable, and thus should NOT be shut down!  We need their books and their meeting venues, too. 

Digital access for all should be reworked to provide more tangible deliverables, ideally adding some deadlines so we can measure your performance in delivering against your commitments:

- Ensure the mix of 4G/fiber coverage allows for access and prices are affordable, ideally with flexible shorter term contracts. Consider using mobile phones as hotspots or as the internet access. Some smartphones can be connected to monitors and keyboards.

- Provide internet to public places, so people can access if they can't afford it. Build public spaces where people can safely work. See what technical initiatives could come from that. Its simpler to start from spaces in your control to provide immediate tangible benefits, rather than attempting to intrude into homes. That could include the latest 5G technology.

- Consider the digital city. What novel use of digital city sensors could create new jobs and opportunities that did not previously exist. Work with new start-ups to create that change more rapidly. Share back those innovations. Ensure Londoners are delivering those services and they are not "best-shored".

I am not convinced the Mayor should be providing IT training. There are abundant amounts out there and they don't need to be extinguishing entrepreneurs that have already provided solutions in this space. If anything, point to trusted directories of those courses to avoid frauds.

I do believe the Mayor should provide training on avoiding falling victim to online fraud/scams/etc - do educate people with UK CERT, etc, on how to protect themselves online and at home. This is how we should be protecting people. Provide more resources to fight on-line crime.

Given the statement talks of internet shopping, perhaps there should be more work around how that transforms the high street and the immediate impact on those without access to internet or knowhow, to avoid being exploited.

London must be the only Western Capital without decent internet. Being forced to work from home, this has really been embarrassing, with me fading from meetings, exams, Exam Boards and important talks for an extended period of time because of a bad connection (via a BT landline, because there is no fibre optic cable). I am sure some of the European colleagues thought I was faking it.

For Pupils, access to a decent laptop rather than the speed of the connection will be the most important factor.

I was there (two years ago) the day the OpenReach engineers installed Fibre-Optic Cable in an inspection chamber in the pavement 0.5m from the threshold of my front door!  The engineer was even kind enough to install a node in the cable so it could be "T"'ed off into my property when the time came for BT engineers to add the final link to my property...!

Having been asking BT for some time previously I was surprised (but pleased) that the unannounced OpenReach engineers had finally installed this fibre, I had always been surprised (living in the City and surrounded by Merchant Banks all using high tech internet linked devices) when I asked BT to install high speed fibre they would always say it was not available.  I'm sure that many of you out there will not be surprised when I say to you (2 years after seeing and speaking with the OpenReach engineers outside my front door) that BT are still saying "fibre is not available in your location!"

I wonder why OpenReach and BT don't speak to each other and why OpenReach don't accept calls from the public...!?! 

I agree with others here that increasing fibre broadband should be a priority.  London lags behind because companies don't want to install in blocks of flats because it may not be cost effective for them.  And at the moment standard broadband packages are more expensive than faster fibre ones!  So we pay more, for a slower connection!  I had to upload a large file as part of my work the other day, and was unable to do anything else online for a couple of hours because it was hammering my broadband connection!  If more people are expected to work from home, they need affordable connections that can hold up.  

Fibre to the premises for all! You know it makes sense.

More local shared workspaces, these would include office type spaces, but also workshops, studios, kitchens, etc. We are all enterprising, we just need tools and facilities. 

5G is definitely needed and some people don't recognize it.
It will ease working from home, creation of new offices now in City or Canary Wharf, which will ease public transport.
So definitely a must do thing.
Problem is that many people oppose 5G, so discussions where new towers will be placed should be transperant and started as soon as possible. 

Mayor of London can give and designate some time in public halls for Tech Events and Lecturers /on subsidized rent or even rent free/.
The more event they are the more people with work in this area, improve their skills and start new businesses.

An emphasis on library spaces, or IT libraries linked to libraries with a real emphasis on knowledge as the base.  Bigger and better please with more IT support on tap in person......particularly for more elderly people and reaching out to them via a space which is not solely about IT.

 No 5G please! 4G works perfectly well - why destroy the planet even more ?!? Thanks

I don't think we need full fibre, we just need to make sure that everybody has at least 10 Mbits/s reliably 24 hours a day.  That is enough for all normal uses.  I am lucky, I used to get 20 Mbit/s on an ordinary landline.  Now with fibre-to-the-cabinet I get more which I don't really need.

I agree with the other comments that 5G should be discouraged.  My feeling is that it is driven by the perceived need of advertisers to give us video advertisements on our phones, as that is the main way that Google and Facebook make money.  I pay an annual fee for my email, which I think is the fair and practical way to do it rather than relying on advertising.

How to help the less well off is a big topic.  I would be happy to pay more tax (well, perhaps happy is the wrong word, it's always a wrench to part with money) and have it given to the poor.  We do need to also pay for good services to stop them spending it all on drugs (including cigarettes and alcohol).  Sorry to sound paternalistic -- as I said, a big topic.

At the moment 5G is a luxury which is going to be delayed anyway because of the Huwaei fiasco.

What's more important is to make sure that everyone wherever they live across the city has connectivity; this would be valuable contribution to the levelling-up of opportunity for all. 

It is sad fact that London has high number of areas without optical range broadband or above 50mbs. Large number of affluent areas do not have the option to subscribe for a broadband of 100 mbs which is a standard to other part of the city. The only option is to take an expensive dedicated leased line which is meant for businesses. The Govt. should ensure that the min. speed is 100 mbs to all the households in UK.

It's a no brainier, make it easier to work from home, or a local workspace, which will then negate government vanity projects, such as HS2, which, by the time it's built, will be rendered useless but will have destroyed hundreds of acres of ancient forests and nature reserves. Just to save 40 minutes off a rail journey.  Keep more people living and working locally where possible and help rejuvenate our communities.  Stop investing in road building and traffic congestion easing and use the money to build an information infrastructure.

Full fibre optic coverage is a must in this country, places like the Isle of Silly don't even have 4G and the government is already talking about 5G. Give every community there infrastructure so they can access it, make it completely free for the over 70s and heck why not throw in a smart phone for them too as I know some can't even afford that to surf and don't own a computer. If there is one thing I have realized during the COVID-19 pandemic is that the over 70s who are not plugged in are completely vulnerable and isolated as you would hear many services being advertised for them but you need the internet in order to make use of it which is tragic. As for kids not having a computer to do their homework, this is also tragic and I blame it on the schools. If companies are giving their staff laptops, monitors and even a work phone to do the work from home why can't schools do the same and ensure that their pupils have the recourses and the facilities to carry out their studies from home. These schools know which students are poor as they would get free meals for breakfast and lunch, all they need is a simple yes or no answer from the parents and proof they are on benefits. The schools can easily claim from the government or council to fund the equipment for those who are in need. No child should be left behind because of something so frivolous as money. When they are done at the school the equipment is returned, I don't see why this cannot be done.

Before rushing into 5G, I would urge you to educate Londoners about the carbon footprint of 5G-enabled activities. Streaming is bad, but gaming, or anything interactive, is terrifying (just as an example, an estimate of the carbon footprint of cloud gaming JUST for California, is that it will equal the entire carbon footprint of Sri Lanka). Add on all the IoT devices and you have a climate apocalypse.

Most people don't understand this and needless to say the ISPs are in no hurry to educate them. That is our job - and yours,

One of the issues that Covid has highlighted is that many students in low-income situations don't have access to a computer so can't do their coursework, which is all online these days.

Similarly, for other aspects of life: job & benefit applications & so on.

We need to make sure that every home has a computer before worrying about 5G access.