London 5G coverage from 2020, boasts Boris Johnson

Wants to "rapidly improve" local mobile connectivity

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is making a push for high speed 5G connectivity in London from 2020.

Johnson will make a speech at a Tech City event on Wednesday and will say that within six years citizens will able to access very high-speed connections thanks to 5G. A consultation process, being announced at that event, will dictate the infrastructure that will support this rollout.

"London is earning a reputation for being the tech capital of Europe and that is why we need to ensure every Londoner is able to access the very best digital connectivity," Johnson said in a statement ahead of the event.

"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. Rapidly improving the connectivity of this great city is a key part of the Infrastructure Plan for London on which my team will be consulting shortly."

According to an invite to the event the mayor will release information about the local and national rollout, and will kick off a consultation into where and how investment will fall for the next 35 years.

Johnson has been working with the University of Surrey on 5G studies, and we reported earlier this year that a £35m research facility, which houses Huawei, Samsung and Telefonica Europe, has the backing of the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund.

Separately, service provider EE is already working towards its 5G network even as it completes its 4G one. However, it said at the time it thought a 2020 rollout of 5G was unlikely.