London to pioneer 5G technology, the city's mayor promises

5G is still only in its early stages, but Mayor Boris Johnson has promised that London will have the world’s first major 5G network.

The University of Surrey will be the driving force behind the developments which were announced as part of the capital’s long-term infrastructure plan from now until 2050.

If the Mayor meets his target, many believe London’s smartphone users will be able to download full-length films in seconds, though it does still remain unclear what 5G standards will be.

Out of his hands?

It also remains to be seen exactly what Johnson can do. The roll-out of 4G in the UK was dealt with by Government and Ofcom.

Johnson believes every Londoner needs to be “able to access the very best digital connectivity” so that London can maintain its reputation as “Tech capital of Europe”.

Londoners increasingly regard broadband as another utility and I am expecting a wide variety of providers will want to work with me to make this aspiration a reality.

Some will feel that a promise on 5G is somewhat jumping the gun given that many businesses in London complain about slow broadband speeds.

On Thursday, Meg Hillier MP will host a roundtable to discuss the problems with broadband in Shoreditch and Tech City.

This story originally appeared on Tech City News. Copyright 2014