- TalkTalk Business
-
TalkTalk Business
(TalkTalk Communications Ltd)
Type Subsidiary Industry Telecommunications Founded 1990 as Pipex
Opal Telecom
Freedom2surf
Nildram
Tiscali Business
2011 as TalkTalk BusinessHeadquarters Warrington, United Kingdom Products Telecommunications Parent TalkTalk Website talktalkbusiness.co.uk TalkTalk Business (trading name of TalkTalk Communications Ltd) is a business broadband, telephone, mobile phone and IT support provider owned by TalkTalk Group.
Contents
History
TalkTalk Business was formally called Opal Telecom but changed its name on 1 February 2011. Although it has its origins in many business divisions of telecommunications companies that have been taken over including Pipex, Opal Telecom, Freedom2surf, Nildram and Tiscali.
Pipex
Pipex was the UK's first commercial ISP, and in 2007 it was the sixth largest ISP in the UK.[1] The company was formed as the first commercial ISP by Unipalm in 1990 as The Public I.P. Exchange Ltd (PIPEX), founded by Peter Dawe.[2] In mid 1992, it began operating a 64k transatlantic leased line to UUNET and another to JANET.[3] One of its first customers was Demon Internet, shortly followed by the BBC.[3]
In November 1994, Keith Mitchell, then chief technical officer of PIPEX, initiated a meeting with BT to discuss the creation of a London-based Internet exchange. Pipex donated a Cisco Catalyst 1200 Network switch which formed the basis of LINX.[4]
Unipalm Pipex was sold to UUNet in November 1995 for £150 million, where it became UUNet/Pipex.[2][5][6]
The brand became known as Worldcom Pipex, after UUnet merged with MFS, which is later acquired by WorldCom before merging with MCI to form WorldCom MCI, later renaming back to MCI which was then taken over by Verizon Communications.[7] Pipex retains contracts with Verizon with regards to the network structure.
In June 1999, David Rickards was appointed Managing Director, when the PIPEX business was transferred to Highway Ltd.[8]
In January 2002 Pipex invested £2 million to get 40,000 DSL users online.[9]
In October 2003 Pipex was acquired by GX Networks plc, who retained the Pipex name, renaming itself to Pipex Communications plc.[10][11] Pipex remained a strong brand, and an internet service provider market leader.
Tiscali UK acquired the Pipex brand and business customers in September 2007.[12] Pipex Business was rebranded as Vialtus and was spun off as a separate company.[13]
Following the purchase of Tiscali UK by The Carphone Warehouse in May 2008, Pipex became part of the TalkTalk group. The TalkTalk business brand, Opal Telecom, has accompanied the Pipex brand since early 2009.
References
- ^ http://www.e-consultancy.com/news-blog/362844/oldest-uk-isp-pipex-on-the-block.html
- ^ a b InovaTech PowerLine: Network access at every power socket
- ^ a b http://support.bbc.co.uk/support/history.html
- ^ https://www.linx.net/about/history-of-linx.html
- ^ SciTech 2003
- ^ Independent summary and comment of news items from the East Cambridgeshire area - East Cambridgeshire On-Line News
- ^ GTNet - News
- ^ PIPEX Communications plc (gxn networks)
- ^ Pipex invests £2m to get 40,000 DSL users online
- ^ GX buys Pipex - theregister.co.uk 2003-10-03
- ^ FREEDOM4 Group
- ^ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/13/tiscali_buys_pipex/
- ^ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/01/pipex_business_rebranding/
- Costello, Neil (2000). Stability and Change in High-Tech Enterprises: Organisational Practices in Sme's. Routledge. ISBN 0415231213.
External links
Categories:- TalkTalk
- Telecommunications companies of the United Kingdom
- Internet service providers of the United Kingdom
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
