Comms Dealer

LA Connect's acquisition of Leicester-based comms firm Yello Communications extends its portfolio of telecoms products and services, including data and voice installation, network services and a maintenance service.

The deal is Windsor-based LA Connect's second acquisition and builds on its four year run of organic growth with turnover in excess of £24m expected in its next financial year.

Lee Waller, General Manager of LA Micro (part of LA Micro Group), said: "LA Micro is expanding its service offering having recently become a Microsoft Partner. Combining the experience, strength and product range of the two companies will broaden our offering and bring new opportunities for both companies."

The appointment of Dave Hudson as Managing Director of Zen's Wholesale division signals the culmination of the firm's strategy to establish a separate Wholesale business.

Zen's wholesale customers consume Layer 2 and managed wholesale broadband connectivity services via its network of over 400 on-net exchanges.?

"We need to have the mentality of a start-up because what we're doing is new for the company," said Hudson. "We want to put Zen on the map in the wholesale space and have the skills and the infrastructure to become a major player.??

"We're about to see another revolution in broadband connectivity. The next few years will see much wider adoption of ultrafast technologies such as FTTP and G.Fast, while FTTC will replace ADSL in becoming the norm."?

Oak's Executive partner James Emm has moved to a newly created position, Director of Strategic Partnerships, handing over the baton of National Sales Manager to Simon Colledge who has been with the company for 22 years, most recently as Area Sales Manager.

The leadership changes reflect Oak's sharpening focus on the mid-market.

"Stepping into James's shoes is going to be a challenge but it is one I'm excited about," said Colledge. "We have a number of plans in the pipeline and are looking at a 25% sales growth rate in the next two years."

Emm's new role is geared towards achieving this target by developing existing relationships and pursuing new partnerships.

He said: "We are in a strong position as a known and respected brand and I want to capitalise on the connections we already have, as well as seek out new and exciting opportunities."

Cloud comms provider NFON AG has collected the 2017 European Frost & Sullivan award for Growth Excellence Leadership following growth at above the market average in the European hosted IP telephony and UCaaS market.

Elka Popova, Vice President at Frost & Sullivan, said: "With its strong position in the German market NFON now strives to continue this success in the European market."

Hans Szymanski, CEO of NFON AG, said: "In addition to the German market we have successfully launched operations in Austria, Croatia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. Services in the Portuguese market will be launched in the second quarter of 2017 which will be followed by Italy in the third quarter of this year."

TalkTalk Business has added a multi-platform mobile application to its Hosted Voice product in preparation for a near tipping point in workplace mobility.

The company cited a report by The Work Foundation which says that within three years 70% of people will work away from the office just as much as they work at their desk.

In preparation for this future working environment TalkTalk Business has introduced MiCollab, a UC application based on Mitel technology that enables users to access the same functionality from a PC, laptop, desk phone or smartphone.

An optional Skype for Business plugin means that TalkTalk Business partners can more easily provide enterprise-class voice within the Skype for Business platform.

Workers can download the app directly from the Android, iOS, BlackBerry and Windows application stores.

Guy Miller, Director of Trading at TalkTalk Business, commented: "Businesses have long been looking for ways to improve their productivity while also providing much more flexibility for their increasingly mobile workforce.

"More and more firms are finding that for their employees work is an activity rather than a place to be. They expect to be able to work from any location with the same level of access and connectivity as if they were in the office.

"With the introduction of the Unified Communication feature set to our Hosted Voice platform, TalkTalk Business is allowing Partners to cater for evolving working practices while also providing telephony which is secure and reliable."

TalkTalk Business is a Mitel Platinum partner.

Elitetele.com CEO Matt Newing has set up a Just Giving page where people can donate funds towards helping the Manchester Arena victims and their families.

The company has a strong presence in Manchester and aims to raise £25,000. "Once the target has been met we will decide where the monies will be distributed to make sure it helps those people who need it the most," said Newing.

At present the total raised is almost £11,000.

If you would like to donate please visit
www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/we-stand-united-for-manchester

The merger of Sonus Networks and Genband creates a new force in next generation communications networking with increased scale and market reach across products, customers and geographies. The joint entity has an enterprise value of circa $745m with Sonus and Genband shareholders each own approximately 50% of the combined company.  

The transaction brings together Sonus' expertise in real-time communication virtualisation, cloud-based SIP and 4G/voice-over LTE solutions and security initiatives, with Genband's UC, mobility and embedded communications solutions. 

The two companies' combined 2016 revenue and EBITDA would have been approximately $680 million and $50 million, respectively, on a combined basis which excludes synergies and is prior to any impact from purchase accounting.

The combined company is expected to realise annual cost synergies of $40 million to $50 million by the end of 2018 and to drive solid cash flow from operations in the first year after closing. 

Following the full impact of expected annualized synergies, the combined company is expected to generate at least $100 million in annual EBITDA, with fiscal year 2020 EBITDA projected to be approximately $140 million.

Raymond Dolan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sonus, said:  "The transaction is expected to generate significant near- and long-term value for shareholders, who we believe will benefit from their ownership in a combined company with increased scale and resources to invest in and accelerate each company's growth initiatives. 

"This is a strategically and financially compelling transaction for Sonus and we are confident that together with GENBAND we will achieve our growth initiatives faster and more fully than either company could do on its own."

David Walsh, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Genband, added: "Like Sonus, Genband has transitioned its business to support this industry shift and we have seen improving profitability over the last couple of years and into 2017."

NTA's target busting hosted telephony resellers were rewarded with an all-expenses paid trip to Cyprus (May 16th-20th) where they enjoyed a selection of activities including golf, a boat trip and diving, along with evening treats such as a Casino trip.

NTA Sales Director Justin Blaine commented: "It's great to have so many partners who qualified. During the trip they have not only forged a stronger relationship with the NTA team, but also between themselves by sharing business ideas and stories about their different routes to success."

Hosted UC provider thevoicefactory (tvf) has developed a cyber security solution for its Hosted Telephony and SIP Trunking customers.

The SENTRY fraud management service monitors and reports any suspicious activity enabling customers to identify and thwart attacks on their telecoms systems. It is mandatory and free of charge and is designed to ensure tvf's partners and their end customers are protected against fraud.

"Unified Comms applications such as voice, video, messaging and file sharing are as prone to network attacks as web and data applications," said MD Paul Harrison. "However, businesses tend to focus their security efforts on incoming and outgoing data and neglect real-time communications.

"Attacks can include theft of service, telephony denial-of-service (TDoS), voice phishing, toll fraud and eavesdropping. Cyber criminals are actively targeting cloud platforms which provide diverse attack points for hackers and there has been a rise in attacks using SIP. SENTRY ensures our partners' customers are not left vulnerable to such attacks."

A team of 22 staff from Telford-based communications wholesaler Entanet completed the Tough Mudder Half Midlands challenge, raising funds for the stillbirth and neonatal death charity Sands.

The Entanet team comprised a mix of men and women from various departments within the company, including two even completing the challenging run dressed as Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaurs.

Stephen Barclay, Entanet Sales Director, said: "The course lived up to its name. It was really tough and very muddy, but it was also a lot of fun.

"It must have been particularly difficult for our T-Rex duo, who really went above and beyond to support Sands. However, it was well worth the effort to raise money for such a special charity."