Tech City consortium launches fibre network and cloud services in Shoreditch

Three local Shoreditch technology businesses have clubbed together to launch a new high speed fibre network and secure IT cloud services, catering to the cluster of high tech businesses in East London's Tech City.

The Shoreditch Network is a collaboration between bandwidth infrastructure provider euNetworks, cloud hosting provider Carrenza, and network company Optimity.

euNetworks already runs a limited fibre network around 'Silicon Roundabout', but will be expanding its infrastructure over the next few months to serve more businesses in the area. The network will offer speeds of anywhere between 10Mbps and 100Mbps.

Meanwhile Carrenza will offer access to its Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) solutions to organisations that require high levels of enterprise security and performance.

“The scalable services we provide have been designed in such a way that companies are able to increase the services they use as they grow, without having to look for new suppliers or additional capacity and bandwidth as they achieve success,” said Dan Sutherland, CEO of Carrenza.

The companies claim that the new services will be three times faster to install and at least 20 percent cheaper than current alternatives in the area, based on a direct comparison with an alternative supplier quoted to a business in an area covered by the Shoreditch Network.

“Having the proper infrastructure in place is essential for any company working in the tech and digital space,” said Brady Rafuse, CEO of euNetworks.

“As an established bandwidth infrastructure provider, we own and operate our own fibre based network which today runs through the streets of Shoreditch. That means we can rapidly scale the bandwidth being delivered to our customers. As part of the Shoreditch Network, we aim to support the growth of Tech City and encourage local innovation.”

Ben Southworth, deputy CEO of the government’s Tech City Investment Organisation welcomed the news, saying that access to ultra-fast, reliable and affordable connectivity is critical to enable companies to benefit from the competitive advantage that such speeds provide.

“The Shoreditch Network is a fantastic example of the community coming together to create solutions that will benefit the whole Tech City area and more widely across London in time,” he said.

Earlier this year, networking firm Ciena said that Tech City needs a world-class telecoms infrastructure if it is to fulfil its promise of becoming Britain's answer to Silicon Valley.

“There is potential to fibre up the whole area. There are fibres in there, depending on where you are, and if your enterprise is big enough and the fibre is 100m away, the local provider will bring it to you,” said Mervyn Kelly, EMEA Marketing Director of Ciena.