Cisco backs UK government's broadband strategy

Cisco chief executive John Chambers has backed the UK's broadband strategy, arguing that the country is ahead of many of its European rivals and that prime minister David Cameron has the right vision to bring success.

Chambers met Cameron in Downing Street on Monday and backed the government's commitment to bringing 2Mbit/s broadband to all by 2015, adding at the Cisco Live event in London that quality broadband is a vital component for nations to develop.

"Broadband gives you true productivity to compete on a global basis. The UK government gets that, and the prime minister gets that, and the UK's commitment on broadband, when compared with other EU countries, is pretty large," he said.

"Cameron brings a lot of confidence to businesses and consumers, and is very articulate on the subject, particularly the challenges that exist around how to bring broadband to everyone in the country."

Chambers added that net neutrality is a key issue for the future, but that it is important to consider the argument from the view of network operators.

"If you ask service providers to build out networks with no clear return on investment it won't happen. European Commissioner Neelie Kroes gets that, and the Federal Communication Commission gets that too, as they understand that a balance may have to be struck," he said.

"However, while this fair deal should also be struck, there should be some amount of network space that should be made available to everyone as well."

Chambers had earlier warned against complacency with network developments, arguing that the growing reliance on internet connectivity among businesses needs to drive future innovations.