Sculpture depicts 10 of the capital’s most iconic landmarks and is created entirely from recycled tech and SIM cards.
- Vodafone teams up with London-based sculptor Alex Wright, aka Wreckage, to create ‘The Connected Skyline’. This installation was commissioned to celebrate Vodafone being named London’s Best Network by NET CHECK*.
- The sculpture features landmarks including Big Ben, Battersea Power Station and the London Eye, made from nearly a tonne of recycled tech, network equipment and SIMs.
- ‘The Connected Skyline’ will be available to view on London’s South Bank on 24 August 2023.
- Vodafone will also donate connectivity to 992 Londoners as part of its everyone.connected initiative, which helps people cross the digital divide. This figure reflects the average number of connections Brits make each month.
Vodafone has today unveiled a pop-up installation of London’s iconic skyline on the city’s South Bank to celebrate being named London’s Best Network by European testing company NET CHECK.
‘The Connected Skyline’ has been created by Brixton-based artist and sculptor Alex Wright, aka Wreckage, who has been making art from waste materials for more than 35 years. His talented team carefully crafted the structure over 19 days from nearly a tonne of recycled tech, network equipment and SIMs. The impressive 20ft long, 10ft high and 4ft deep structure (6x3x1.2m) depicts more than 10 of the City’s most iconic landmarks including The Shard, Big Ben and the recently renovated Battersea Power Station.
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The installation is revealed as new research from Vodafone shows the importance of connectivity across the capital and beyond, with British mobile phone owners making an average of 992 digital connections to friends, family and colleagues every month across messaging apps, social media, emails and calls. 18–24-year-olds make the most (2,703) digital connections each month, compared to 347 connections for those aged 65 and over.
The research also revealed that WhatsApp (58%) is the app most used to keep in touch, followed by phone calls (48%), SMS (28%), Facebook (28%), emails (27%) and video calls (17%), with the nation spending an average of 30 hours a month digitally connecting with the people in their lives.
The poll of 2,000 British mobile phone owners found the people we connect with the most are best friends (36%), romantic partners (33%) and parents (22%), all coming ahead of colleagues (16%) and bosses (5%).
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The most common time for connecting with our nearest and dearest is between 6pm and 7pm, with the main reasons for getting in touch including to say hi and check in (45%), to share life updates (30%), to arrange a meet up (28%) to share pictures of friends or family (16%) and to share some gossip (15%).
When it comes to urban living, London was cited as the UK’s most connected city, closely followed by Manchester and Liverpool.
To secure the coveted title of London’s Best Network from NET CHECK, Vodafone’s reliable award-winning network** was tested across Greater London in a range of voice and data service categories including accessibility, reliability, speech quality and speed tests using customer applications such as browsing of popular web pages, video streaming and more. NET CHECK revealed that Vodafone ranked first, ahead of other UK mobile providers in both voice and data tests across London.
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Max Taylor, UK Chief Commercial Officer at Vodafone said: “We know how important it is to stay connected to those closest to us and we are committed to providing our customers with the very best service across the capital and beyond. We are incredibly proud to have been recognised as London’s Best Network and we’re excited to unveil this unique installation in London to celebrate.”
Alex commented: “Having lived in London for 17 years, I feel very connected to the city, so getting to work on this project for Vodafone with my talented team and re-imagine some of the city’s most iconic landmarks using recycled tech has been a lot of fun.
“To re-create this iconic skyline, celebrating connectivity, I got to handpick recycled materials of all shapes and sizes from network equipment to SIMs and devices, taking influence from the original designs and breathing new life into them as the skyline took shape.”
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‘The Connected Skyline’ will be available to view at the Observation Point on London’s South Bank for one day only, on the 24th of August 2023, and will be recycled after being dismantled. Vodafone will also be donating connectivity to 992 people to help Londoners cross the digital divide. The number donated reflects the average number of connections people make across the UK each month and will be donated as part of Vodafone’s everyone.connected initiative, which has pledged to help four million people cross the digital divide by the end of 2025.
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Notes to Editors
*London’s Best Network
London’s Best Network: Based on the NET CHECK 2023 Benchmark measurement report of mobile networks in Greater London. Tested with latest commercially available equipment, on drive and walk tests, on four mobile networks, from April to May 2023. The NET CHECK trademark is used under license and with permission. Details of the test are available online.
About Vodafone’s Network
**Reliable, award-winning network: The UK relies on Vodafone as a network provider as it: i) powers critical national infrastructure and 77% of emergency services, ii) has coverage in 99% of UK homes, iii) covers 96% of the UK and iv) has won numerous awards. See full details and awards on our Network page.
About Alex Wright aka Wreckage:
Alex Wright aka Wreckage is an artist and sculptor based in Brixton, London. Creator of The Lost Tea Party at Burning Man, collaborator on the London 2012 Paralympics Closing Ceremony and now Art Director for Glastonbury on Sea, Alex has been creating sculptures from waste for over three decades as a member of the Mutoid Waste Company.
