Speaking in the UK parliament during a debate on smart city development in June 2019, Lisa Cameron, a shadow spokesperson on mental health for the SNP, painted a rosy picture of 5G’s potential impact on local government services.

Back in 2013, a UK government paper on smart cities cited an Arup estimate that “the global market for smart urban systems for transport, energy, healthcare, water and waste will amount to around $400bn per annum by 2020”. The UK, said the paper, should aim to secure 10% of the market, worth an estimated $40bn a year. That’s some economic incentive.