Connecting Camden is a network of projects to make broadband and phone speeds and signal better for Camden’s communities and help tackle digital exclusion.
Digital Rooftops
Digital Rooftops is a project that improves connectivity for our residents, provides digital skills support and brings in much needed funding that goes back into looking after our council homes.
Since 2016 the council has rented some of our council-owned rooftops to mobile network operators and wireless broadband providers like EE, who install telecoms equipment on the roofs.
The sites are carefully chosen (for example, we need to make sure that bats aren’t nesting there) and currently there are 39 roofs in the borough with telecoms equipment – 25 mobile phone and 14 wireless broadband.
Residents and businesses benefit from better broadband, phone signal and speeds and the income generated from leasing the roof space helps to provide important housing services to the whole borough.
The money that Digital Rooftops brings in in one year could:
- fund 18 neighbourhood housing officers or
- replace 294 boilers or
- refurbish 180 kitchens.
Digital Rooftops also funds the Connecting Community Spaces project, which provides free WiFi in Tenant and Residents' Association (TRA) halls and digital skills training for communities.
Wiring estates
Camden Council is working with broadband companies to install new fibre optic connections to our council blocks. Although there is no obligation to sign up to the new full fibre services, it does mean that soon Camden estate residents will have access to some of the fastest broadband speeds available and more choice.
A better digital connection gives a community more access to education and training, and improves health, social welfare, wellbeing and local economic growth. A good connection is more important than ever now that many of us are still working from home and may be for a long time to come.
Currently only 7.2% of the borough has access to full fibre, the fastest type of broadband, but we have joined up with fibre operators to deliver full fibre broadband to our estates. As well as giving our estate residents access to the fastest home broadband, Camden residents will benefit from:
• Apprenticeship places in providers' apprenticeship schemes
• A low cost broadband tariff for residents on low incomes
• Job opportunities in the rollout programme
• Free fibre lines for TRA halls and community halls
• Three years of digital skills support for Camden communities.
Community Fibre will start work soon to install fibre at your estate and they will be in touch to let you know more, including dates for installation. If you have any questions please contact Community Fibre on 0800 082 0770 or by email.
FAQs regarding the fibre broadband installation can be found on the Community fibre website.
Find out more about the decision we made
Contact us
If you have any questions about Connecting Camden or any of our connectivity projects email connectingcamden@camden.gov.uk.