Londoners demand better broadband for home working
A majority of Londoners want to carry on working from home after lockdown ends – but only if they have better broadband, according to a survey commissioned by G.Network.
The poll found that 59% of London residents would want to keep working from home at least some days of the week if their broadband was faster and more reliable.
31% of those polled said that they would want to work from home full time with better connectivity, with a further 28% opting to work from home on some days.
The same survey found that two-thirds of Londoners have experienced problems with their broadband speed or reliability since lockdown started. 43.4% of those polled said they had reliability issues, such as connection drop outs, while 22.6% have encountered issues with their speed.
“Londoners have been remarkably resilient throughout the pandemic,” commented David Sangster, G.Network Chief Operating Officer. “Many have quickly adapted to working from home, but it’s disappointing that their broadband is letting so many of them down.”
“Many people assume that broadband in our big cities works well. But these numbers make clear that connectivity in our capital just isn’t delivering. London needs an broadband upgrade if people are going to be working, socialising and learning more online – and we are proud to be rolling out the critical new full fibre infrastructure needed to deliver it.”
Just 7.1% of those polled said that they wanted to return to their workplace every day, even if their broadband worked better. The study also found that broadband problems are affecting how Londoners feel. More than one in five (22.1%) of respondents reported feeling more stressed because of their connection problems, with a further 12.7% reporting they had been unable to relax at home and 12.6% saying that their connectivity had had an impact on their productivity.
Video was the cause of most of the problems. Nearly half (48.6%) of those surveyed said that streaming or doing video calls with colleagues or friends had been impacted by their broadband problems.
