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Digiweb Acquires Internet Ireland

January 13, 2010 – 6:23 pm
  • Digiweb acquires experienced hosting and telecoms provider Internet Ireland.
  • Services and operations will continue to be delivered by Internet Ireland personnel.
  • Illustrates Digiweb’s commitment to consolidation within the hosting and telecoms markets to deliver increased value, quality products and leading infrastructure to its clients.

Digiweb, one of Ireland’s leading providers of broadband, web hosting and telecoms, today announced the acquisition of established telecoms provider Internet Ireland.

Internet Ireland has successfully provided hosting and telecoms solutions to Irish businesses for over 15 years. Services offered include web hosting, data centre colocation, managed email solutions, broadband and leased lines.  Personnel with Internet Ireland will transition to Digiweb’s Dublin offices and data centre over coming weeks, and continue to deliver the high service standards which Internet Ireland and Digiweb customers enjoy.

This deal follows the recent announcement of Smart Telecom’s addition to the Digiweb Group, and further strengthens Digiweb’s position within the hosting market where it has gained significant market share in recent years.

Clients of Internet Ireland will also benefit through access to the wider portfolio of services and national Next Generation network infrastructure of Digiweb Group, including fibre and wireless broadband, leased lines, high speed DSL, telephony and VOIP, and private networks.

“We are looking forward to welcoming Internet Ireland’s customers and staff to Digiweb and integrating these long established Irish telecoms businesses. Building on the skills, expertise and resources of both companies we will provide our customers greater value, choice, and a single one-stop provider for all business IT and connectivity requirements” said Dan King, Hosting and Managed Services manager with Digiweb.

Marc Lynch, Sales Director with Internet Ireland welcomed the new development for his customers and staff, saying “Digiweb have an established track record and like ourselves are long-term players in the Irish hosting and telecoms industry and we feel our customers will benefit from our combined experience and expertise. Together, we look forward to playing a greater part in Ireland’s telecoms and hosting environment.”

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Smart Telecom joins Digiweb Group and exits Examinership Process

December 8, 2009 – 2:39 pm

Investment from Digiweb secures future of Smart and creates the leading independent Irish owned telecommunications company

Dublin, Ireland, 8 December, 2009 - Smart Telecom (“Smart”), an Irish provider of voice, data and media communications services, today announces that the Irish High Court (the “Court”) has approved a range of proposals which will enable Smart to exit the Examinership process as a viable member of the Digiweb Group. Smart will continue to provide telecommunications services to Irish residential, business and public sector customers. The effective date of the exit is Friday, 11 December 2009.

Smart entered the Examinership process on 31 August, 2009 in order to restructure its balance sheet and to secure a strategic investment.  The proposals approved by the Court include a restructuring of Smart’s balance sheet and the acquisition of the entire business and residential customer base and assets of Smart by Digiweb, the national telecommunications and managed services provider.

The transaction brings together two EBITDA positive businesses with annual revenue approaching €40 million and over 150 employees. The enlarged Digiweb Group becomes the leading, independent Irish telecommunications company and significantly enhances the scale and scope of the combined Digiweb-Smart service offering. Smart Telecom employees will move during December to Digiweb’s Blanchardstown head office.

Brendan Hunt, CFO, Smart Telecom said:

“We are delighted to have achieved this restructuring combined with an investment from Digiweb which has resulted in our successful exit from Examinership. Smart emerges with a substantially stronger balance sheet and operating profile. The business will be EBITDA positive and profitable and has no debt maturities for a number of years. The prospect of combining our existing business with Digiweb is exciting and we look forward to the opportunities this presents. We would like to thank all of our employees, suppliers and customers who have remained dedicated and supportive of the Company during this process.”

Colm Piercy, CEO, Digiweb:

“We welcome the Smart employees to our team and, together with them, look forward to extending our combined market leading services to a growing customer base across each of the residential, corporate and Government sectors of the market.”

He added:

“The combination of the Digiweb and Smart businesses makes the enlarged Digiweb Group a truly national telecommunications company, with the network, people and managed services capability to provide real choice in the Irish telecoms market. There are many advantages for our customers who will benefit from an increased range of telecoms, IT and hosting services, and a single solution provider for all their needs. We look forward to making an enhanced contribution to the competitive communications landscape in Ireland and to growing strongly together in business, consumer and public sector markets.”

Transaction Overview

  • The investment by Digiweb in Smart creates the leading independent Irish owned telecommunications company.
  • Consolidates the telecoms market creating a stronger service provider with a broader range of services for existing and prospective customers.
  • Combines Smart’s leading fibre, high speed DSL infrastructure and Next Generation IP network with Digiweb’s national wireless infrastructure and leading datacenter and hosting facilities.
  • Total subscriber base of 46,500 business, residential, corporate and government customers for broadband, data and telephony, along with over 48,000 webhosting, domain and data centre clients.
  • Digiweb and Smart’s multi-platform and wholly owned infrastructure uniquely positions the combined entity to provide digital communications services to 100% of the Irish business and consumer population.
  • Smart will form part of the Digiweb Group, will retain the ‘Smart’ brand and will continue to build on its position as a leading provider of voice, data and managed communications services in Ireland.

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Digiweb shakes up Irish telecoms with ‘Chatterbox’ voice and broadband service.

December 1, 2009 – 3:33 pm

-  Irish consumers can now get unlimited calls to landlines in Ireland and the UK, plus 40 free minutes to Irish and UK mobile numbers at any time for just €39.99 per month
-  Robust 4 Mbps broadband is included in bundle
-  No installation fee for orders received in December
-  No line rental required
-  Chatterbox comprehensively beats Eircom on price, volume of calls and broadband speeds
- Average consumer could save in excess of €300 per annum by switching to Digiweb

Dublin, 1st December, 2009: Digiweb, the national telecommunications and managed services provider, today launched a new, low-cost voice and broadband bundle to consumers in Ireland for just €39.99 per month. The service called ‘Chatterbox’ includes unlimited calls to local, national and UK landlines, and forty minutes of free calls per month to Irish and UK mobile phones at both peak and off-peak times. It also includes a 4Mbps internet connection.

Digiweb believes this comprehensive service offers the best value in the Irish market as the volume of free calls at all times to all areas of Ireland and the UK is unprecedented. In addition, Digiweb will offer free installs for all orders received during December.

The Chatterbox phone and broadband bundle has many benefits for Irish consumers including the competitive price, free ‘peak time’ calls to anywhere in Ireland and the UK, and the faster broadband speeds. In addition, the service is not dependent on a fixed copper line which means that customers don’t need to pay ‘dead money’ into line retail or share busy DSL exchanges which can lead to poor quality internet connectivity. Eircom’s most competitive voice and broadband bundle at €46.99 includes free calls at ‘off-peak’ times only and solely to Irish telephone numbers. It also only provides 1Mbps broadband, compared to Digiweb’s 4Mbps in this new bundle.

It is estimated that an average user can save in excess of €300 per annum on their phone bill by switching to Digiweb’s Chatterbox bundle when compared to Eircom.

Digiweb is delivering Chatterbox on its own independent national infrastructure. It expects more than 1000 new customers per month will sign up to the service. In addition to the high quality of Digiweb’s voice offering, the robust 4Mbps broadband connectivity will enable homes across Ireland to take advantage of a wide range of internet services. Customers have the option to increase these speeds to 12Mbps at an additional cost per month.

Digiweb’s Chatterbox voice and broadband service includes:
-  Unlimited free landline calls to Irish and UK numbers including peak times
-  40 minutes free calls to national and UK mobile numbers including peak times
-  Customer can keep existing phone number
-  No line rental required
-  4Mbps broadband delivered on Digiweb’s Metro network.

Colm Piercy, CEO, Digiweb, comments, “At Digiweb, we’re constantly striving to shake up the Irish telecoms market. We firmly believe that our new Chatterbox voice and internet bundle offers the best value in Ireland. Nobody else is offering the same breadth or quality of service at this price. The investments we have made in our own national network give us the independence and capability to bring these exciting new products to market.”

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Digiweb aims to bridge the rural digital divide with satellite broadband

October 29, 2009 – 6:02 pm

-    Digiweb research identifies 8,169 businesses and organisations that struggle to access the internet
-    Counties with the highest numbers of organisations effected are Cork, Tipperary, Kerry, Clare and Meath respectively
-    Sectors hit hardest include retail, tourism and agribusiness
-    New Satellite technology delivers guaranteed internet coverage to 100% of the Irish population with speeds increasing to 10Mbps in 2010

Dublin, 29 October, 2009: Digiweb, the national telecommunications and managed services provider, today announced the results of a comprehensive nationwide survey of Irish businesses which has identified more than 8,000 businesses and organisations that are located in broadband ‘black spot’ areas. **

The 8,169 organisations highlighted by the research are mainly small businesses in rural areas. Many of those identified are involved in the retail, tourism and agribusiness sectors.  This research follows a recently published report from the National Competitiveness Council that ranked Ireland in 12th position in the EU-15 for broadband penetration. Counties with the highest numbers of organisations in areas struggling to access the internet via broadband technology are Cork (1071), Tipperary (712), Kerry (662), Clare (653) and Meath (494).

Providing affordable, high-quality broadband communications to 100% of the population is not only a concern for Ireland, but also many other countries that have areas of low density population.  Satellite broadband technology is now seen as an integral part of the overall digital strategy for many of these countries.

In May this year, Digiweb launched its new satellite broadband service ‘Digiweb Tooway’, which currently offers download speeds of up to 3.6Mbps to all of its satellite customers.  With a major new satellite infrastructure upgrade program planned, Digiweb will increase the speeds to 10Mbps throughout all areas of Ireland later in 2010.

Declan Campbell, COO, Digiweb, said, “With much of Ireland’s future growth dependent on the digital economy, it’s essential that all organisations nationwide have access to high quality internet connectivity.  Dial up and mobile broadband can provide alternative options for a limited number of companies but poor signal strength, disconnection problems and slow download rates are all common problems experienced by users of these technologies.  For businesses seeking to take advantage of web applications that can enhance business performance or even those that just want to use services such as online business banking, it’s essential that they have secure, always-on, high quality broadband.”

“The demand for satellite broadband has been phenomenal so far, particularly from organisations and residents in rural areas with restricted or no internet access.  With our research showing that more than 8,000 small businesses are currently under served, we expect the market for satellite technology to continue its high growth rate,” continued Campbell.

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