Comms Dealer

Although European TMT M&A activity was lower in December, the number of deals in the last quarter of 2013 was the highest since the second quarter of 2006, says financial M&A advisor Regent Associates.

This marks a rising trend and consistently high number in the months towards the year end.

Total deal value in the month was slightly lower at $15bn. The Price/EBITDA multiple increased to 9.3 and the Price/Sales multiple remained at 1.2.

UK pricing is among the highest in Europe and is significantly higher than in the other largest markets including Germany, France & the Netherlands says TCL (Tariff Consultancy Ltd). It has just introduced a revised Data Centre Pricing UK 2014 to 2019 report, which provides details of the main Data Centre trends across the UK market.

Pricing in the UK is set to stay stable, it predicts with standard average UK Data Centre pricing (excluding power) is forecast to increase by only 3% over the 5-year period from 2014, with rack space priced at €1031 per month.

The UK Data Centre market is the largest in Europe with over 650,000 square metres of floor space forecast to be available as of the end of 2014. In the report TCL surveys 61 Data Centre providers with 151 facilities across the UK.

The report forecasts that "new UK Data Centre capacity is to grow by 22% over the 5-year period." New raised floor space outside the London area is to be the main growth with a range of campus-based and regional Data Centre providers being developed with clusters of service providers developing their own digital ecosystem.

Data Centre space outside of London now accounts for 56% of all raised floor space in the UK including new geographical areas seeing Data Centre expansion include cities such as Slough, Birmingham, Manchester & Leeds.

Power for the Data Centre is being provided by operators in a number of ways - including bundles of power ranging from 1kW up to 6kW per rack - and power being included with the rack space. Established Data Centre providers such as TelecityGroup, Equinix & Interxion are offering metered power as standard - charged by kW per Hour - in their new facilities.

Additionally the UK Data Centre market is seeing the introduction of Premium Data Centre facilities, which can cater for standard power of 20kW per rack and are being positioned as a "flexible" facility with a series of data halls catering for different SLAs, tiers of service, power bundles and price levels. Data Centre providers are also increasing the amount of power available in their facilities.

The use of additional power per suite or rack allows the Data Centre provider to bundle power with space - to preserve a higher price point. Additionally older Data Centre facilities - with unused space - are also bundling power with rack space in order to attract customers.

UK telecoms providers are also increasingly renting new Data Centre space from Carrier Neutral Data Centre providers rather than building their own facilities. The trend towards outsourcing of Data Centre facilities is increasing with providers - such as Digital Realty Trust (DRT) and NTT Com - offering purpose-built Data Centres for particular specialist users.

Although there is a range of new Data Centre capacity entering the UK market overall pricing is set to remain relatively stable over time and providers are offering high power bundles suitable for high density IT applications, it says.

D-Link has announced the appointment of Paul Routledge to lead its growth strategy in the UK and Ireland (UKI). He will be in charge of driving the UKI sales and marketing teams to meet the company's ambitious growth plans.

Routledge has been with D-Link for over three years, previously responsible for European Business Development, spearheading tremendous growth in IP Surveillance and Storage solutions across Europe. He will use this extensive vendor and channel experience to now focus on the UKI market.

Routledge said: "This is an exciting new challenge for me. UKI is one of D-Link's biggest potential growth markets in Europe and I'm looking forward to the challenge of expanding our footprint here further. D-Link offers innovative solutions to both businesses and consumers and I want to ensure we exceed the expectations of our customers in all of their dealings with us."

He will report into Luigi Salmoiraghi, Sales and Marketing Director Southern Europe and UKI, who added: "Paul has been key to driving D-Link growth in the IP surveillance and storage markets across Europe. Now he can capitalise on his experience and lead the UKI team to achieve organic and sustainable growth in the traditional channel, while developing new business opportunities and partnerships."

Routledge has over 20 years of experience developing channels in the UK and across Europe. Before his appointment at D-Link he held Business Development and Channel Sales Management roles with vendors and distribution partners including CCI Distribution, Adaptec and Eurologic Systems.

The number of Samsung systems shipped by Nimans reached an all time high in 2013 with a record breaking Q4.

SIP trunks account for around 35% off all installed trunk ports on Samsung systems and the distributor expects this trend to continue following the launch of a dedicated SIP trunk service.

The OfficeServ7200 system which serves up to 128 extensions had a record month towards the end of the year with sales growing 100% against monthly averages.

Nimans' Head of Category Sales, Paul Burn, says IP handset growth continues to gather pace with in excess of 40% of all Samsung handsets being shipped now IP. 

"With the introduction of the Samsung IES4028 and IES4024 PoE switches Nimans will be able to offer a fully Samsung branded IP system and applications suite further driving the Samsung IP offering.

"We ended 2013 with a bang and expect similar levels of performance this year as Nimans strengthens its reputation as the place to come for Samsung solutions."

Chris Huggett has joined Alternative Networks as Group Sales Director, moving from HP where he was Networking Sales Director for the last six years.

Prior to that he was VP UK and East EMEA for 3Com and was promoted following the acquisition of 3Com by HP.

Huggett has also held enterprise sales director roles at Vodafone, Dell and Cisco.

Edward Spurrier, Chief Executive Officer of Alternative Networks, commented: "Chris brings a wealth of experience and sales leadership from market leading businesses."

UK-based Prodec Networks, mobile data connectivity and wireless networks solutions specialist, has announced its new partnership with Aruba Networks.

Thanks to this deal, Prodec will strengthen its unified communications offering, it says.

As an Aruba's silver partner, Prodec will offer the full suits of Aruba products and solutions as well as managed service of two solutions.

Jabra's primary headsets and speakerphones now offer fully integrated call-control with the latest Cisco Jabber 9.6 for Windows.

Jabra is also the first headset vendor to complete the Cisco certification process, which allows Jabra to provide a complete USB, Bluetooth and DECT offering on key audio devices.

With the launch of Cisco Jabber 9.6, Jabra has stepped up the competition within headset manufacturers worldwide to deliver compatible headset call-control functionalities. 

Jabra is the first to announce built-in drivers with Cisco Jabber. Earlier this year, Jabra was also the first to launch the PC Suite based call-control for Cisco Jabber 9.2.

The built-in Jabra driver will allow for seamless installation, without the external drivers to complicate a mass-deployment.

Jabra's fully integrated call-control with Cisco Jabber is the latest step in the continued integration of Jabra audio devices with Cisco solutions, which enable businesses to make an easy choice on communication infrastructure and increase the productivity of their end-users at the same time.

The continued compatibility updates are the result of Jabra's participation in the Cisco Developer Network Programme, which unites Cisco with third-party developers of hardware and software to deliver tested interoperable solutions to joint customers. As a Preferred Solution Developer, Jabra is continuously working with Cisco to deliver new solutions that offer end-users with all the benefits of unified communication.

"Building on Cisco's software and Jabra's headsets, businesses will have a broader portfolio of validated solutions designed to meet their individual needs and budget requirements," said Chris Briglin, Vice President of Strategic Alliances at Jabra.

A bureau billing service introduced late in 2012 by Union Street Technologies continues to prove popular, says the firm, which now provides bureau billing to 40 clients, roughly ten per cent of its total customer base, with five more customers in the pipeline.

To keep pace with demand Union Street has appointed Steve Lale as Bureau Team Manager to oversee the service. He has worked in the telecoms industry for over eight years, six of which spent in the billing software arena.

He said: "Our bureau service provides a cost effective way to reduce the workload involved in a billing run and frees up staff to concentrate on their core roles.

"Many clients have also reported an increase in their margins thanks to the knowledge and expertise of our bureau team and their commitment to best practices.

"One area of the bureau service that I'm keen to develop is reporting, so in 2014 there's going to be a big focus on margin analysis with the aim of helping our bureau customers to get the most from our aBILLity software."

Openreach has named Joe Garner as its new CEO. Joining in mid-February he is to replace Liv Garfield who leaves to become CEO of Severn Trent. Garner brings substantial commercial, operational and regulatory experience having worked for many years at HSBC, Dixons and Procter & Gamble.

His most recent role was at HSBC where as head of the UK Bank he helped lead HSBC successfully through the financial crisis, rebuilding profitability and strengthening the balance sheet.

In this role, Garner also drove some of the highest customer satisfaction levels in high street banking, including at the UK's No.1 bank for service, first direct, and was responsible for launching M&S Bank. Under his leadership, HSBC in the UK achieved the best long-term record on customer complaints amongst the major banks as well as industry-beating levels of employee engagement.

Garner has significant experience of working in a strictly regulated industry and of dealing with regulators, not least through his role as Chairman of the Financial Services Authority's Practitioner Panel.

This experience will be useful given Openreach is one of the most heavily regulated businesses in the UK, providing all communications providers with equal access to BT's network and operating at arm's length from the rest of the BT Group.

Garner said: "I am thrilled to be joining Openreach at such a critical moment - a moment when technology is redefining how our society communicates.

"The massive investment that Openreach is making in the UK's high speed internet infrastructure is something of a revolution that will greatly benefit people and businesses in this country.

"I am grateful to my predecessor and the engineers who have already delivered so much. It is my ambition to build on this work and I intend to focus on customer service, continued innovation and maintaining fair and equal access for all."

Gavin Patterson, BT Group CEO said: "I am delighted to welcome Joe to the team. His experience of managing a large regulated business with a substantial workforce will help us as we expand our fibre optic network into rural areas. He will also ensure that Openreach continues to play a vital role in supporting businesses, consumers and communities the length and breadth of the country."

Vapour Media was expanded staff numbers following the appointment of two new additions.

Carol McGrotty has joined the firm as Operations Manager, bringing with her 10 years experience in the industry working as a project manager at Virgin Media Business.

And Kevin Homar has been taken on as a Sales Executive. He boasts over 11 years experience working at Virgin Media Business specialising in the SME market providing connectivity and voice business solutions.

Tim Mercer, co-founder and Director, said: "Having worked with Carol for over 10 years I am excited about bringing her into our growing team. She has a wealth of industry knowledge and is tasked with developing and managing our operations delivery team.

"Kevin has been brought in to grow our partner channel and strengthen partner relations. His industry knowledge of the telecoms SME market will be invaluable to Vapour."