Orange maps UK's future connectivity hotspots

Orange's Connected Britain map

Orange has created an interactive map of the country to pinpoint the connectivity hotspots of the future and work out how that will affect the next generation workforce.

Based on the mobile giant's Connected Britain research, the interactive map went live today and highlights which areas of the UK could benefit from population growth thanks to their internet-based wealth. Conversely, it flags the areas that could see people leave in droves due to lack of mobile and fixed line broadband connectivity.

Indeed, the South West could see its population swell by a whopping 150 per cent by 2015, while Scotland and London's head counts are set to grow by 50 per cent and 40 per cent respectively, according to the research.

"Our research found that a digitally connected workforce could change the face of Britain as we know it," said Robert Ainger, Orange's director of corporate marketing, in a statement.

"Not only could the population itself shift, but the way we work could also fundamentally change. The interactive map means that visitors to the site can quickly check out their current location or somewhere else that takes their fancy, to see how things are likely to pan out there in future."

The map also showcases how each region fares when it comes to flexible working, which is generally interlinked with having the right technology in place.

Orange's research suggested that businesses could save more than 30 billion by being a bit more savvy about the benefits of flexible working practices.

Click here for all you need to know about the government's Digital Britain report.

Maggie Holland

Maggie has been a journalist since 1999, starting her career as an editorial assistant on then-weekly magazine Computing, before working her way up to senior reporter level. In 2006, just weeks before ITPro was launched, Maggie joined Dennis Publishing as a reporter. Having worked her way up to editor of ITPro, she was appointed group editor of CloudPro and ITPro in April 2012. She became the editorial director and took responsibility for ChannelPro, in 2016.

Her areas of particular interest, aside from cloud, include management and C-level issues, the business value of technology, green and environmental issues and careers to name but a few.