This is a guest blog from Mervyn Kelly, EMEA marketing director at Ciena, the network specialist. The Tech City-based company is inviting the local community for an open day on May 23^rd.

The government has announced a shortlist of cities competing for a £50 million funding pot for broadband in smaller cities, which is part of the Chancellor’s last budget. This is in addition to the £100 million promised to a group of 10 key urban centres.

But is this enough to lighten up the UK’s broadband strategy? This question is driving an important debate at the moment, with the Guardian questioning ‘Why Britain’s broadband is heading for the slow lane’ and the House of Lords running an inquiry into changes in the use of digital communications and strategic investment in the long-term prospects of the country.

The concern is that the UK is falling behind when it comes to broadband speeds. Higher capacity is needed to support the move to the cloud, the rise of new media, and growing storage requirements as well as our ambitions in a wide range of areas, from eHealth to distance learning – all of which will have a profound impact on our ability to compete.

Take Tech City as an example: this area of London has been an incubator of tech innovation for some time and attracts start-ups and international companies alike. The success of this area depends greatly on the broadband infrastructure available to ambitious start-ups. As TechWorld points out, it requires a world-class telecoms infrastructure to support the entrepreneurs living and working in the area and attract new business.

The technology to enable tomorrow’s business connectivity needs is available today and Ciena is working with leading service providers to support the Tech City area through scalable fibre networks that can grow at the speed needed by fast growing enterprises. That being said, today’s uncertain economic climate has brought an end to the ‘build and they will come’ model, slowing down the roll-out of telecoms infrastructure essential to the country’s SMBs.

The debate on the UK’s broadband strategy is timely and welcome – and should motivate the industry and the government to work together to find a pragmatic and ambitious solution for this shared, groundbreaking challenge.

 
Please join Ciena for an Open Day at its London offices to learn more about the latest networking technologies, how we support the thriving Tech City area and how in turn we can help improve the competitiveness of local businesses. The open day will include demonstrations of the latest Ciena equipment.

Date: Wednesday, May 23^rd

Time: drop in anytime between 12:30 – 16:00

Location: Ciena House, 43-51 Worship Street, London EC2A 2DX

Additional information and registration available online