Londoners will enjoy blazing 5G speeds by 2020, promises Boris Johnson

Londoners will enjoy blazing 5G speeds by 2020, says Boris Johnson
Remember when he said London would be a giant WiFi hotspot by 2012? Yeah...

Londoners will have access to 5G mobile speeds by 2020, according to Mayor Boris Johnson.

As part of a wider plan for London's infrastructure between now and 2050, Johnson will pledge this week to bring 5G to London in the next six years.

That may sound like an ambitious target, with 5G still in the early stages. The University of Surrey is involved in the project to bring the faster speeds to the country, but right now it's unclear what the 5G standards will even be.

But earlier this year we reported that the EU was teaming up with South Korea to research and develop 5G, and with South Korea also aiming for a 2020 5G rollout, this will hopefully play a helping hand to the UK.

Bozza's got a plan

Back at CeBIT, David Cameron also announced that the UK would collaborate with Germany in its 5G research, with the University of Surrey chosen as one of the involved parties.

"Rapidly improving the connectivity of this great city is a key part of the Infrastructure Plan for London," said Johnson as part of the new initiative. Sounds great, but in the meantime can we get working on improving 4G?

The mayor will also pledge that better information on broadband speeds about individual properties be made available to the public, something that will be very welcome indeed.

  • Until that day comes, here's everything you need to know about LTE and 4G

Via The Telegraph

Hugh Langley

Hugh Langley is the ex-News Editor of TechRadar. He had written for many magazines and websites including Business Insider, The Telegraph, IGN, Gizmodo, Entrepreneur Magazine, WIRED (UK), TrustedReviews, Business Insider Australia, Business Insider India, Business Insider Singapore, Wareable, The Ambient and more.


Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider covering Google and Alphabet, and has the unfortunate distinction of accidentally linking the TechRadar homepage to a rival publication.