London is the world’s most connected city

A study undertaken by IHS Markit on behalf of the Wireless Broadband Alliance has found that, while much of the world remains unconnected to the internet, London is ahead of the rest.

The study looked at the world’s eight richest countries by total GDP and found that 1.75 billion of their citizens remain unconnected, although India and China account for the vast majority of those. Among the major cities Sao Paulo was the worst with 36% of its population unconnected and London was the worst with 9% unconnected. New York was surprisingly bad with 19% of its population unconnected.

“Wifi is playing an instrumental role in helping cities bring wider and more affordable connectivity to its citizens,” said Shrikant Shenwai, CEO of the WBA. “The WBA is committed to helping cities bridge the digital divide through initiatives like World Wifi Day and our Connected City Advisory Board, and see Wifi as key to bringing connectivity to everyone, everywhere.

“The issue of the urban unconnected is of critical importance the economies and societies around the world. We call on Governments around the world to re-double their focus on connecting the urban unconnected. It’s vital that internet access becomes recognized as a human right, and that all stakeholders involved in the provision of broadband work together to make this happen.”

As you just heard, the WBA is using the tried and tested method of appropriating a day of the year to bring attention to its cause, which seems to be to bring about ubiquitous connectivity with an emphasis on wifi. Among the common barriers faced by places that fall short are poor infrastructure and high prices and the WBA seems to want more public money spent on this sort of thing.

Here’s a table summarising the findings by country.