London’s broadband? It’s quicker to send by bicycle

London’s hi-tech businesses are being held back by a lack of superfast broadband connections with one TV firm sending films by bicycle instead as it is quicker, the Commons was being told today.

Staff at Proudfoot, a digital content provider in St John Street, get on their bikes to transport footage to Covent Garden in 15 minutes rather than taking an hour or two to upload the material and send it using broadband.

Local Labour MP Emily Thornberry was due to tell the Commons this afternoon of a visit to Proudfoot to see the barriers faced by businesses in London’s growing hi-tech sector.

She was told how uploading a two-and-a-half-minute film to send to Ford took nine hours, while the small company, whose chairman is Michael Proudfoot, also faced similar problems despatching footage to Rolex in Switzerland.

“Speaking to Mr Proudfoot, it was clear that his business had evolved over the last 10 years, but his connectivity had not improved in line with the work,” Ms Thornberry, MP for Islington South and Finsbury, was due to say.

“He said that to send a high-quality sound file to Covent Garden, it was quicker to put it on a stick and cycle with it to Covent Garden.”

Mr Proudfoot, whose firm is just outside Tech City, told the Standard: “It’s infuriating. It’s hampering our business and making us think about moving.”

Ms Thornberry told MPs that central London should have 100 per cent superfast broadband coverage by now.

“Tech City is home to a large number of new and innovative businesses — film companies, PR companies, property companies, pollsters. They all need fast and reliable internet access, fast and reliable download and upload speeds,” she added.

“You would assume that BT would be able to supply the infrastructure, and BT and other providers would be able to offer high-speed connection to all these companies.”