Comms Dealer

ISPA has welcomed the the Advertising Standards Authority's (ASA) research into how consumers engage with broadband adverts, but says that more detailed research is needed to corroborate the survey findings.

"Price is only one factor when a consumer chooses a service and the engagement with an advert is only one part of a purchasing decision," said Nicholas Lansman, Secretary General of ISPA. "We urge the ASA to consider the whole customer experience when consulting on changes to its advertising guidelines.
 
"The UK has a highly competitive broadband market and informed and empowered consumers are an important part of this. This is supported by Ofcom's own figures that show the UK benefits from some of the most competitive broadband pricing.

"Beyond adverts, ISPs provide clear information if consumers engage more closely with them, for example by going to their website, visiting a shop, working with comparison and consumer websites or by calling the providers. This has not been reflected in the survey which is based on a small sample size with some of the reviewed adverts only being shown to 8 participants.
 
"We look forward to working together with our members and the ASA on how to empower and inform consumers, and it is worth emphasising that the adverts that were used in the survey fully comply with current guidelines."

Chess' annual financial results indicate how far the company has evolved with acquisitions and product portfolio expansion driving a 33% increase in turnover to £74m and an EBITDA increase of 13% to over £14m. The business has also taken its headcount to 450-plus people.

David Pollock, Chief Executive, said: "2015 saw us continue to reduce our reliance on fixed line call revenues with a real focus on growth in cloud and ICT product sales.

"We have invested in business systems and infrastructure and made some significant appointments to strengthen the senior management team across the Group.

"We are excited by our future plans having recently secured a £50m bank facility to support our acquisition strategy in 2016."

Key acquisitions include Avenir Mobile (UK) in June 2014, adding more than 78,000 mobile connections and 200 resellers. Other acquisitions of note include Parachute IT and Compwise ICT businesses, strengthening Chess' ICT offering.

2015 also saw Chess collect a number of awards and accreditations.

Overline Network Consultants is to supply a hosted telephone system that will service almost 700 employees at Adur & Worthing Councils.

The contract builds on Overline's experience of providing bespoke solutions to large local organisations such as Shoreham Port Authority, The Queen Alexandra Hospital and The Amex stadium.

Overline Director Jason Young said: "It's fantastic to see Adur & Worthing Councils working with cutting edge technology provided by a local company."

The European Union wants guarantees of effective limits on US authorities' power to request people's personal information from companies to conclude a new EU-US data transfer pact, a top EU official said on Monday, as a deadline from EU privacy regulators looms, reports Reuters.

Securing sufficient assurances US spies will not access Europeans' personal data indiscriminately once it is transferred across the Atlantic has been a major point in two years of talks on a new framework for protecting data shifted to the United States. Under EU data protection law, companies cannot transfer EU citizens' personal data to countries outside the 28-nation bloc deemed to have insufficient privacy safeguards, of which the United States is one.

"We need guarantees that there is effective judicial control of public authorities' access to data for national security, law enforcement and public interest purposes," EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said at a conference in Brussels.

The talks took on added urgency in October when the EU's top court struck down the 15-year-old Safe Harbour framework, used by more than 4,000 firms to transfer Europeans' data across the Atlantic easily, because the material was vulnerable to being accessed by US authorities on national security grounds.

Adding to the pressure, EU data protection authorities gave the two sides until the end of January to come up with a new framework for protecting data transferred to the United States, failing which they could start taking enforcement action against companies. Jourova said talks would continue on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Andrus Ansip, the EU Commissioner responsible for digital affairs, is due to meet US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker on Thursday. The Commission is also seeking more transparency on limits to US security services collecting personal data, Jourova said.

US negotiators have so far resisted a mandatory system for companies to report numbers of US government access requests, people familiar with the talks have said. However, one alternative would be for the United States to keep the EU informed on how often US authorities access personal data on national security grounds as part of an annual review process of the new framework, two of the people said, accordinig to Reuters.

Chinese technology and investment group Cocoon Networks is launching a £500m ($720m) London-based venture capital fund aimed at investing in UK and European tech startups.

Cocoon Networks, which has the backing of China Equity Group, one of the first investors in to Baidu, China's answer to Google, and Hanxin Capital, which specialises in cloud computing and bio tech investments, will look to invest in tech companies whose products and services show promise and potential for growth in the Chinese market.

The fund will look to invest in tech companies across a wide range of sectors including fintech, biotech, medical devices and the UK's creative tech industries, like fashion-tech. Companies looking to expand into China will also be offered assistance in navigating Chinese legislation and practical help about doing business there.

As part of a wider investment, Cocoon Networks, in partnership with University College London, is also setting up an incubator space, in order to provide the best environment for growing tech startups. 

John Zai, Founder and CEO, Cocoon Networks said: "The fund will provide capital to help the development of some excellent technology and innovative projects in London and the UK. The fund and incubator programme will bring awareness for more Chinese investors to get into London's booming technology sector. It will also help many companies grow and expand into China."

The incubator, a 70,000 sq ft building is situated in the heart of London's Tech City close to Moorgate, Liverpool St, and Old Street stations.

Cocoon says it will not only be an incubating space for technology companies but it will also work with some of London's universities to attract talent, offer accelerator programmes and co-working spaces. 

The incubator will work with startups to take products from the concept phase and test them in a real environment - Cocoon's own digital testing labs - before going live on the public market. Cocoon says this testing and support infrastructure enables startups to compete on a level playing field with larger companies.

Over the last nine months 28 Chinese companies, worth £23million ($33m) to the city's economy, have already pledged to set up in London, with that figure expected to rise to nearer 40 by the end of March 2016. The previous best year for Chinese investment in London was in 2011/12 when 30 Chinese companies came to the city.

Li Cha, Founder and Managing Partner, iStart Ventures LLC, added: "The Chinese economy is vastly in need of innovation which comes from either competition in the domestic market or from international inspiration. In this respect, London is a good source of international trends and aspiration in technology and cultural creativity. Chinese investors have started exploring opportunities outside of China, in order to grab hold of global cutting edge technology as well as to diversify their portfolios. In light of this, London serves as the best hub in Europe."

Patrick Joggerst has been appointed Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing for GENBAND. He was previously the firm's CMO and boasts more than 30 years experience in leading sales and marketing for global brands in the telecoms and technology industry. Prior to GENBAND he was head of worldwide sales at BroadSoft.

Business Systems UK, a call recording and workforce optimisation specialist, has added O2's Mobile Recording technology to its portfolio, strengthening its play in the financial services call recording market.

Mobile Recording from O2 is a network-based solution that captures calls and text messages made and received on any mobile device, regardless of operating system.

The solution also provides flexible service options and can be easily integrated to the existing equipment, whether it is on premise, hosted or hybrid.

O2's Mobile Recording solution is also NICE and Verint SIP accredited, which means that by using SIP connections straight into existing NICE or Verint trading-floor recorders, all mobile and landline calls can be stored, retrieved and replayed in one compliance controlled environment.

Stephen Thurston, Business Director at Business Systems, commented: "Business Systems caters for some of the most prominent organisations in the UK Financial Services market and they trust us to help them avert critical compliance and reputational risks with reliable solutions.

"We have already several successful implementations of O2's Mobile Recording solution and we are confident that this is indeed a perfect fit for us and our customers."

Mark Baggs, Product Manager, O2 Digital UK, added: "Business Systems has been selling, servicing and supporting call recording and related technology for over 25 years in the financial sector."

February 1st marks the launch of Eclipse's third annual Fastest 4 reseller incentive promotion and again features Ex-Stig Ben Collins who 'can't wait to get cracking' with the winners on race day.

The challenge to sell Eclipse's fastest four connectivity products (with the addition of Managed WANs this year) runs until 30th April and is open to the whole reseller channel.

Resellers with 40 points or more will join Eclipse at Palmer Sport to race some of the fastest cars in the world including the BMW M4, Ariel Atom and Caterham 7 Superlight.

Former Stig Ben Collins will oversee the contenders and giving tips from his days as James Bond's stunt driver.

Collins stated: "Fastest 4 is always a blast and I can't wait to get cracking again. I'll be doing another SuperRide in the Palmer Jaguar JP-LM for those who want the full Le Mans experience."

Henry West, Head of Channel at Eclipse, added: "Fastest 4 is a great experience for all involved. We have serious ambitions in this market and welcome the opportunity to reward our partners whenever possible. The gives resellers an even faster way to qualify."

Eclipse has rolled out a colo promo that offers resellers who sign up to a three year contract a free rack for one year and free installation.

Eclipse's colo solution provides rack space, power, cooling and connectivity with multiple levels of redundancy built-in.

"The offer is available to all Eclipse partners looking for multiple data centres including our Docklands-based Tier 3+ environments," stated Henry West, Head of Channel Sales.

"Colo offers a way to significantly reduce the cost of customer infrastructure with no upfront costs and no ongoing utility and maintenance bills."

The deal aims to give resellers a hosting entry point for their customers and the opportunity to consolidate in-house hosted services into one place, including hosted PBX, email and web hosting etc.

"Our partners have the opportunity to realise 100% margin on colocation sales for the first year with this deal," added West.

The offer is available until the 31st March 2016.

Nine Group has achieved Gold standard for Investors in People, joining the top 7% of accredited organisations across the UK that are dedicated to realising the potential of their staff. Nine secured the Silver standard in 2013.

HR Director, Helen Chamberlain, said: "we are a customer-centric business and heartily endorse the maxim that happy staff is the first step towards happy customers.

"The accreditation process threw up a number of challenges for the leadership team at Nine to respond to, but these only served to increase the levels of drive, enthusiasm and engagement across the business.

"The Investors in People Gold standard is an important accolade and a key milestone for Nine Group, representing a welcome endorsement of our commitment to staff excellence."

Investors in People is the UK's leading accreditation for business improvement through people management and provides a wealth of resources for businesses to innovate, improve and grow, with a focus on good people making great business.

Paul Devoy, Head of Investors in People, said: "We'd like to congratulate Nine Group on its Gold standard.

"Such a high level of accreditation is the sign of great people management practice and demonstrates a commitment to staff development, showing an organisation committed to being the very best it can be."

Nine Group will be benchmarking its progress by entering the Investors in People awards for 2016 and looking to carry off the award for Gold Employer of the Year.

Chamberlain also noted that Nine has its eye on the Platinum standard.