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Connected London resources

We want to help digital connectivity stakeholders provide faster, cheaper digital infrastructure to homes and businesses in London. We will provide useful data, information about the London Plan and wayleaves information on this page.

If you are a Londoner, business, borough or provider and have any questions or issues with delivering digital connectivity in London contact the Connected London team.

  • Wiredscore Commercial Rating Scheme

    In 2015 the Greater London Authority gave grant funding to WiredScore to bring the Wiredscore Commercial Rating Scheme, which was operating in New York, to London. The scheme rates the quality of digital connectivity in offices, giving transparency to commercial tenants and encouraging landlords to improve their buildings. Find Wired certified buildings in your area here.

The data below are provided to help inform network planning for new networks.

  • Templates for fixed line connections: Wayleaves are legal agreements that allow digital connectivity providers to install infrastructure in properties owned by others and to access it on an ongoing basis to carry out work. A standardised wayleave document has been developed in partnership with many London boroughs and is being championed by the City of London. This will help reduce the time and cost for small firms seeking connections via their landlords, cutting down the legal process that delays connectivity. The document has been updated to comply with the December 2017 changes to the Electronic Communications Code. Read more on wayleaves.
  • Templates for mobile infrastructure: The Mayor engaged the British Standards Institution to work with a Steering Group made up of representatives of Transport for London, London local authorities, Cabinet Office, landlords, RICS, British Property Federation, network operators and their partnerships to develop consensus-driven impartial documents and accompanying guidance. This project was inspired by the success of the City of London’s Standardised Wayleave Toolkit and the City of London kindly supported the development of these documents. The Draft Documents and this Guidance Note are provided free of charge on the Greater London Authority website and are intended for use by legal representatives of mobile network operators and their site providers, in London and beyond. The use of these documents is voluntary. They can be adapted and are intended to provide a recognised neutral starting point for discussions, promoting common understandings of key issues for discussion.

Greenfield Agreement

Greenfield Lease

Rooftop Agreement

Rooftop Lease

Guidance Note

The London Plan is the overall strategic plan for London. The London Plan is legally part of each of London’s Local Planning Authorities’ Development Plan and must be taken into account when planning decisions are taken in any part of London. Planning applications should be determined in accordance with it.

The New London Plan creates the strongest policies ever for Digital Connectivity.

Policy SI6 (with minor suggested changes) states:

A To ensure London’s global competitiveness now and in the future, development proposals should:

  1. ensure that sufficient ducting space for full fibre connectivity infrastructure is provided to all end users within new developments, unless an affordable alternative 1GB/s-capable connection is made available to all end users.
  2. meet expected demand for mobile connectivity within generated by the development.
  3. take appropriate measures to avoid reducing mobile connectivity in surrounding areas; where that is not possible, any potential reduction would require mitigation
  4. support the effective use of rooftops and the public realm (such as street furniture and bins) to accommodate well-designed and suitably located mobile digital infrastructure.

  • Digital Economy Act 2017 - An Act to make provision about electronic communications infrastructure and services. Contains provisions around the Universal Service Broadband Obligations, the Electronic Communications Code, and spectrum.
  • Electronic Communications Code - As set out in schedules of the Digital Economy Act. Please seek guidance from legal representatives on site provider responsibilities.
  • Ofcom Templates - Including template notices, standard terms, and a code of practice.
  • Ofcom Codes of practice - Voluntary codes agreed by industry
  • Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Digital Connectivity Toolkit - The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport have created an online resource for local authorities and communications network providers with guidance on how to encourage investment in fibre and mobile networks at the local level. It includes recommendations on digital strategies, granting access to public sector assets, local planning policies, and deployment.
  • Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Streetworks Toolkit - A toolkit developed with HAUC, JAG UK and Street Works UK, to offer advice on street works practices. Including case studies.

The GLA’s pilot Infrastructure Coordination Service was initiated by the Mayor’s London Infrastructure Group to prove the economic, social and environmental benefits of collaborative working and coordinated delivery.

Collaborative streetworks is a key focus of the service. The GLA is convening multiple schemes with two or more works promoters coordinating to access pipes and cables beneath the road network together, rather than in isolation. This streamlines programmes and costs for promoters, delivering robust schemes with less disruption to road users and local communities.

These collaborative works go a step beyond Highway Authority’s BAU coordination by accessing data on potential schemes sometimes 10 years in advance. The result can have a large impact, our recent collaboration on the A10 in Stoke Newington brings together Cadent Gas, Thames Water, and other promoters and is anticipated to save 240 days of disruption compared to delivering the works in isolation. Through demonstrating the benefits, we work toward collaboration becoming the preferred way of working for our works promoters.

Our network of stakeholders continues to grow, and includes energy and water utilities, several London boroughs, TfL and telecoms providers.

With the huge growth in digital infrastructure, a ‘dig once’ approach will help to reduce disruption. Telecoms providers can benefit from joining existing works—by sharing costs for traffic management, excavation, and reinstatement, as well as gaining access to difficult roads. For interested parties, the GLA will circulate a quarterly newsletter highlighting locations where there are opportunities for telecoms providers to join collaborative schemes being convened by the GLA.

We will include telecoms in these collaborative schemes on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you would like to receive this newsletter, please email [email protected].

Case studies

Read are case studies of projects underway by Local Authorities in London, and by network operators. If you are interested in learning more about these case studies, or providing us with a case study get in touch with the Connected London team.

Westminster council have been working with industry to create programmes, projects and initiatives to help tackle local challenges, big or small, that providers face in deploying their networks, full fibre or mobile, to Westminster businesses and residents. Having developed good relationships with providers and understanding their key challenges, Westminster council provides a number of solutions to ensure their not spots are addressed. Please click here more information on the incentives that are in place.

The City of London has invested in a new, world leading gigabit WiFi network offering individual users speeds of up to 200 megabits per second per user across the Square Mile - something never seen before in London. The network will be advertised as 'O2 Wi-Fi' and requires a one-time login.

The multimillion pound project is one of the largest investments in wireless infrastructure ever seen in London and is more technically advanced than WiFi networks found in other leading global financial centres, including New York.

Over 156 access points are now live across the Square Mile.

The City of London has recently rolled out a network of 200 4G small cells (mobile equipment installed on street lighting columns). The City of London and Cornerstone (City's wireless partner) are in discussions with mobile operators to encourage the roll out of 5G equipment across the Square Mile.

Digital Connectivity Social Value Calculator launched to aid London’s road to recovery
Liam McAvoy, Senior Director of Business Development, Hyperoptic
 
As London emerges from its six-month lockdown, local authorities are under huge pressure to choose what investments and activities must be prioritised to kickstart local economies and protect the livelihoods of constituents.
As the UK’s largest Gigabit full fibre provider, we know that hyperfast broadband hugely benefits society, both socially and economically. However, we also understand that local authorities must be data-driven, especially in this difficult time, when they are juggling so many other activities.With that in mind, we are pleased to offer London authorities with a tool that will enable them to quickly and easily determine where investment in hyperfast broadband will have greatest impact.
 
Our ‘Digital Connectivity Social Value Calculator’ is based on independent data from organisations such as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Ofcom. It has been developed in partnership with the Housing Association Charitable Trust (HACT) and social value specialist, Simetrica-Jacobs. The calculator recognises that the impact of a hyperfast broadband connection can be split into two categories. Firstly, the economic impact on businesses, consumers, and their finances. Secondly, the social impact on communities and on society as a whole, including the benefits to an individuals’ wellbeing. Both are now accessible within the tool.
 
Hyperoptic is currently working with 50 councils across the UK to deliver full fibre connectivity to their social housing stock. In London, we have agreed portfolio wayleave deals with five councils to deliver connectivity across their whole portfolio – Southwark, Brent and Hammersmith and Fulham to name a few. Using our calculator, the analysis shows we have created £39m of social value through by our deployments with these five London boroughs alone.
 
Our London social housing rollout plan equates to over 80,000 homes – and typically we see a quarter of these connected homes sign up immediately. Working in partnership with councils we have delivered 400 complimentary connections and appointed a number of digital champions, who work in their community to train neighbours on basic Internet skills. We have run job fairs across each borough, where hundreds of attendees came to learn about the array of entry-level jobs we have on offer, which offer fantastic career development opportunities.
 
Of course, every local authority has different structures, processes and teams. Hyperoptic has unparalleled experience in tailoring deployment methods accordingly – to unlock the value as quickly as possible. The infrastructure is one part of the social equation, and is supported with digital inclusion packages – with partnerships with charities for equipment, training and free service, etc. Our HR team also works in tandem with local authority job teams tocreate local jobs for local people.
London’s public sector has a key role in enabling the Mayor’s vision of creating Europe’s smartest city, with the digital infrastructure that supports entrepreneurship and revolutionises lives. With our calculator, our ambition is that we are able to understand and align our priorities so we can deliver benefit first where it’s needed most, and that full fibre rollout can be expediated across the capital – to the social benefit of everyone.
 
It’s imperative that the drive to a “Gigabit London” remains a strategic priority. The calculator we have developed gives local authorities a framework that enables them to systematically and objectively evaluate where our collaboration can bring the most value.
 
To find out more about Hyperoptic’s Digital Connectivity Social Value Calculator and how you can use it in your own borough, please see: www.hyperoptic.com/social-value/

Our history

Community Fibre was founded from the realisation by Tim Stranack, who was Head of Change at Westminster City Council, that the council’s Digital Transformation Programme could not achieve its goals unless the residents of Westminster had access to faster, better and great value Internet services.

Tim discovered that the best way to achieve these goals was to set up a new company and build a new full fibre-optic network for London. He was joined by Community Fibre’s previous Chief Executive, Jeremy Chelot, who had grown up in social housing outside Paris. Jeremy says it was when he got faster Internet services into his council flat in Paris that he was able to learn and study for his degree, then his masters and become one of the most successful Internet engineers in the UK.

Community Fibre signed its first wayleave with Westminster City Council in 2013. Early in 2014 Community Fibre employed Feka Samakuva, from the local Churchill Estate, into its sales team. Feka soon expressed an interest in learning about the technical side of the business and so we trained him how to carry out fibre-optic installations. By 2017 Feka was running the whole installation team and has now become a senior network engineer for the company. Just one of many examples of new employment opportunities Community Fibre can bring to the local economy and its residents. We work with the local employment teams within each borough to help identify local people that Community Fibre can employ. We believe that employing local people helps us to get the great feedback we receive from our customers.

Community Fibre subsequently signed a wayleave with Wandsworth Council in 2014. Since then it has gone on to full-fibre enable over 10,000 properties [1]owned by Wandsworth Council. This makes Wandsworth the biggest full fibre Borough in London. Community Fibre has funded a number of Digital Inclusion activities within Wandsworth including iPad training for older people, providing new computers to sheltered schemes and more recently building a new Digital Champions network within Wandsworth in conjunction with Digital Unite. The work with Wandsworth council highlights the digital inclusion initiatives Community Fibre can bring to every borough as we roll out our network.

Community Fibre signed a master wayleave with Hammersmith & Fulham in December 2017 granting permission for its full-fibre roll-out to over 17,000 properties owned by the Council. Just over two months later services were made available to the first properties in the White City Estate, making it one of the largest in London to have ultra-fast fibre optic broadband on offer in its 2,000 homes. Residents on the White City Estate now have the chance to surf the net at speeds of up to 1,000Mbps. “Together with Community Fibre, we’ve future-proofed the first of our estates with some of the fastest internet connections in the country,” said Cllr Andrew Jones, H&F Cabinet Member for the Economy and the Arts. “We want more people to be connected in the borough as we strive to make H&F the best place to live, work and socialise in Europe.”

In the meantime Community Fibre has signed master wayleave agreements with Nottinghill Genesis, Richmond Housing Partnership, City of London, Southwark and Brent, as well as a number of private landowners.. Community Fibre are in discussion with many other London Boroughs about expanding their full fibre network and welcome any opportunity to explain to London’s Landlords how straightforward it is to fibre enable their own properties. Full fibre-optic connectivity at no cost and minimal input from the council, allowing each party to do what they’re best at and ensure a smooth roll-out.

Community Fibre has raised over £40m to fund the continued growth of its full fibre-optic network across London and beyond. The companies investors include The Railway Pension Fund and Amber Infrastructure who have been appointed by UK Treasury to administer part of its Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund (DIIF)[2].

The process

Once a master wayleave agreement has been signed, the deployment of the fibre can be very quick. The standardised City of London wayleave is the basis for all of the agreements we have signed with landowners. Sometimes we need to adjust the standard provisions to meet the particular needs of the landowner or reflect the latest legislative changes. Boroughs that have published a Digital Strategy and appointed and empowered a specific person who can help to coordinate the activities of the various departments across the council and maintain momentum have achieved the fastest deployments and now have the highest level of full fibre penetration across their property stock.

Community Fibre engage with a plethora of departments across the London Councils. Projects that progress most quickly are the ones where the housing, digital transformation or innovation and community engagement teams take the lead. Other teams that may need to input are the legal team, for confirming the wayleave terms, the economic development team with regards connection voucher schemes, the highways team with regards to civils works in the public highway and parking permissions.

Delays can occur if there is confusion over legal obligations to provide code network operators with wayleaves under the Digital Economy Act, or whether the council must obtain best value for its assets in this case. These are both items we can advise you on and provide independent third party advice where necessary. We work closely with our landowning clients to ensure that our survey reports include all the information they require to satisfy themselves that the installation will be appropriate for their buildings. We can explain why a procurement process is not required and reassure the legal team about the legislation. If London is to catch up with the full fibre take up in other global cities, landowners, including boroughs, need to understand their obligations to grant permission, in the form of wayleave, to operators. Full fibre roll out cannot proceed without these permissions.

The ability to work with housing / property teams across these boroughs, alongside the use of a standardised wayleave has enabled us to streamline the process of deployment, in fact once the wayleaves are signed, we can deploy to thousands of your homes per month, and the rate of deployment is fast speeding up.

Key lessons learned so far:

  • It is possible to bring full fibre to the properties you own within a few months of a master wayleave being signed
  • Everyone wants a better Broadband experience – take up of our full fibre Internet services has been higher than we initially expected especially our Gigabit service
  • Make sure you get full fibre to the home (FTTH). Community Fibre only install full fibre to the home solutions. We have come across landowners who thought they already had a full fibre solution installed only to find on closer inspection they actually had a hybrid fibre / copper solution. Any copper cabling will need to be replaced within the next 10-15 years
  • The Digital Economy Act means that you don’t need to run a procurement exercise to sign a wayleave. DCMS and GLA can provide further guidance on this
  • Check out what existing customers say about their Internet Service Provider at the independent review site
  • Establish the person within your organisation who will be responsible for signing off wayleaves with network operators and make these details publicly available on your web-site
  • Avoid two operators building their network on the same site at the same time as it becomes difficult to manage from a Health and Safety perspective
  • To minimise costs to the council create a set of design principles that you want all network deployments to comply to. Allow operators to self-certify against these design principles but carry out spot-checks to ensure ongoing compliance

[1] http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/news/article/14318/10000_homes_get_gigafas…

[2] https://www.amberinfrastructure.com/our-funds/national-digital-infrastr…

The City of London are working with multiple infrastructure providers to encourage investment in full fibre. Please click here for more information about Openreach's collaboration with the City of London to bring full fibre services to residents and business in the borough.

The UK wants world-class connectivity for all, but high costs and limited collaboration are slowing access down. The Freshwave Group invests expertise and capital in ways that make digital infrastructure remarkably simple. Faster, for less and in the right places. It’s the network service provider bringing together mobile operators, central and local government and real estate providers to work together in new ways. Combining technical telecoms and commercial real estate know-how, they use collaborative commercial models and global best practice to ensure everyone has network.



Their managed sites include some of the biggest, most challenging wireless environments in the UK, including several central London boroughs and Docklands. With 6000+ mast site locations, 2000+ buildings connected and 200+ outdoor networks supported, they’re helping local authorities deliver the digital infrastructure their citizens need, enhancing economic growth and social inclusion. Read more about the first open access, 5G-ready small cell network they’re helping Croydon Council connect.

Gaist – Is My Borough 5G Ready?
Knowing your current level of connectivity is a vital part of planning and implementation of increased network coverage in your Borough. Equally we feel it is important to have the ability to be able to measure and monitor performance over a longer period to understand changes, big or small.
Gaist provides the best insight into critical road infrastructure available anywhere in the world by harnessing powerful proprietary data capture and analysis techniques. Gaist annually completes c120,000km of traffic speed condition surveys of highway networks for over 60 Highway Authorities in the UK . By combining this with our bespoke mobile network testing offer we can provide massive increases in sample data densification compared with crowd sourced data at a fraction of the cost of dedicated drive testing.
Understanding actual network coverage and capacity (or lack thereof) from a user perspective in an area that we feel can be used to encourage operators to accelerate their plans, and evaluate which operator is best when procuring connectivity solutions to effectively facilitate remote learning and other initiatives to close the digital divide.
As connected communities continue to expand and thrive, the expansion of 5G coverage fuels that growth, data and intelligence from Gaist can provide an evidence base to help inform decisions. Our data can help answer several key questions:
  • How much 5G coverage is present in a given area?
  • How fast and reliable is the 5G that is available?
  • How do the networks compare in terms of speed, latency, or reliability?
  • How has performance trended over time?
  • How ready is an urban or rural area for the implementation of connected IoT applications?
  • Which operator should consumers choose for their particular mobile needs?

Expanding connectivity efficiently and effectively requires understanding of current coverage and performance in specific locations. Working in partnership with Rootmetrics, Gaist helped address several key connectivity questions for WM5G in Sandwell.

Network performance testing in practice: West Midland 5G – Sandwell

West Midlands 5G (WM5G) is a multi-million-pound programme that both the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have established to develop the UK’s first region-wide 5G testbed, with one of its key objectives to accelerate 5G across the region of West Midlands, England. The primary purpose of the performance data is to determine the availability of 5G to support test use cases.
Partnering with Rootmetrics allowed us to provide WM5G with accurate network coverage and performance insights down to the street level in Sandwell. By conducting scientifically based data performance tests while driving over 434 kilometres across the area, collecting test samples over 86 square kilometres, and conducing nearly 21,000 total tests over a 12-day period.
“The detailed 5G coverage data received from the Sandwell trial allowed WM5G to successfully assess the feasibility of important use case trials in the area. Coverage information is vital to inform not only use cases but to really understand the impact of deployment of 5G in the region. One of WM5G’s key objectives is to accelerate the roll out of 5G in the West Midlands, and this innovative solution provided by RootMetrics really helps to inform our success.”
Rhys Enfield - Director of Infrastructure Acceleration at WM5G
Read more on the results of the survey.

Newsletters and minutes

View the Connected London team's newsletters for information on the latest digital connectivity activity.

Minutes from the Connected London Forum can also be found below and can be downloaded by clicking on the various dates.

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