CCOOMMMMSS N NEEWWSS
GIGACLEAR MARKS YEAR OF GROWTH
RURAL BROADBAND PROVIDER
Gigaclear has submitted its 2019
accounts report, detailing a
signifi cant increase in revenue,
properties passed and homes
ready for service, as well as a
26 percent increase in
customers and a 38 percent rise
in assets.
In 2019, Gigaclear saw
revenue increase by 26 percent
to £11.3m, up from £9.0m in 2018.
The increase was, in part, driven
by selling into new network
areas and increasing the
company’s penetration across
some of its already established
networks.
The consolidated operating
loss for the year was £32.6m,
up from £26.7m in 2018.
Gigaclear says this was as
predicted due to its continued
focus on building new network
ENREACH
ACQUIRES
HEROBASE
areas that have associated
initial costs. The company
expects to become increasingly
profi table as customers sign up
to already existing networks
and the rate of new network
construction decelerates.
Gareth Williams, CEO,
Gigaclear, said, “Our network
spans hundreds of miles of
some of the most rural areas in
England and because it is
completely futureproofed, we
will continue to see returns on
our investment for decades to
come.
“We are more committed than
ever to bringing ultrafast
broadband to underserved rural
communities, empowering them
to be able to do more. The fact
that we were granted key
worker status during the
ongoing Covid-19 pandemic
shows just how important the
work we are doing really is.”
The Gigaclear network has
now passed 129,000 properties,
a 39% increase since 2018. In
addition, the number of
properties it has declared as
ready for service has grown by
48%.
Vodafone launches
new broadband
package for
homeworkers
Vodafone has launched a
new broadband package
tailored to homeworkers
in response to its own
research into small business
employees that examined
how employees have
adapted to homeworking.
The new broadband
package will give new and
renewing customers who
sign up for Vodafone’s
Unlimited Business
Broadband package a £125
credit (ex. VAT) to offset
their broadband bill for up to
six months. Once the £125
credit has been used up, the
monthly fee will revert back
to the standard Unlimited
Business Broadband
Superfast 1 package price of
£19.17 (excl. VAT) per month or
£22.50 (excl. VAT) per month
for Superfast 2.
In addition, Vodafone
is also offering its Secure
Mobile Offi ce bundle, which
includes access to Microsoft
365 Business Standard,
Vodafone Cloud Backup and
Lookout Mobile Security for
just £11.60 per month (excl.
VAT) a saving of 20%.
The research, which
surveyed over 1,000 small
business employees, found
that working from home has
not hindered productivity.
40% of workers have put in
an average of 642 additional
hours, equal to 26 extra
days, since lockdown began
back in March.
60% of employees said
they’re working in the time
they’d usually be commuting,
and 61% say they now don’t
mind picking up tasks at any
time of the day. What’s more,
40% say they’ve been more
productive than when they
were working in the offi ce.
ENREACH HAS ENHANCED its
product offering with the
acquisition of cloud contact
centre software specialist
HeroBase.
Copenhagen-headquartered
HeroBase sells its proprietary
software, Hero Outbound, to
over 175 clients in 8 countries
and processes more than 250
million calls per year. Its contact
centre and marketing
automation capabilities will be
integrated with Enreach’s
existing products to create a
full GDPR-compliant cloudbased
contact centre solution.
Stijn Nijhuis (pictured), CEO of
Enreach, commented, “The
acquisition of HeroBase is
further proof of our buy-andbuild
strategy to develop into a
unifi ed communications market
leader in Europe. Looking for a
full cloud contact centre
offering, we decided that
adding HeroBase was the
perfect fi t following our latest
acquisition of masvoz, the
number one B2B cloud
communications provider in
Spain. Together, they instantly
create a leading ‘one-stop shop’
cloud contact centre solution
for Enreach customers across
Europe. We are therefore very
pleased to welcome HeroBase
to our group.”
HeroBase was founded in
2016 and added marketing
automation tools to its portfolio
with its 2018 acquisition of
CampaignOne. The company
launched its integrated
payments service, Hero
Payments, in the same year..
10 | Comms Business Magazine | October 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
/www.commsbusiness.co.uk
/