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Review of 2008

2008 has been a very busy year – as they all seem to be. The action started early on when Timico acquired Twang.net. This is the third ISP we have bought and the process is getting slicker every time. Soon afterwards, the integration of the Twang and Timico network infrastructures began. Twang ADSL users all saw an immediate improvement in network performance and web surfing experience on the larger Timico network.

In the summer we established a separate Network Operations Centre in Ipswich to take care of the growing Timico core network. Previously this function had been split across a number of locations as the company grew and acquired businesses. A well as settling the team in a single location we set about hiring developers to provide the growing number of customers (both internal and external) with a world class ISP capability. 

September saw Timico appear 4th in the Sunday Times Techtrack 100. This was up from 10th last year and an improvement that thrilled everyone involved.

We then had the installation of our 21CN Hostlink – a resilient dual Gigabit Ethernet fibre connection over which we then ran the ADSL2+ trials. 

Finally in December Timico won the ITSPA Award for the best Unified Solution. This was for the best ITSP that was also an ISP. Many VoIP service providers do not manage the underlying netowrk that is used to carry their voice traffic. Timico does and has now been recognised for the excellent job it does.

Along the way the company has grown to over 130 employees and has broken a number of it’s own records in terms of sales, profitability and numbers of subscribers.

On a personal basis I started this blog in May and am now pleased to say that it is getting in the region of 40,000 hits a month and growing by the month. I welcome any constructive feedback readers might have. I was also elected to the council of the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) which is proving to be a very interesting place to be.

This is in addition to my role on the council of the Internet Telephony Service Providers’ Association ITSPA. Being on both councils I think gives me a pretty unique insight into what is happening in the UK’s internet world and I hope that some of it comes through in the blog posts.

The activity within ITSPA has grown this year and the organisation now holds regular networking events, dinners and workshops which are proving to be very popular.

During this year the Web2.0 revolution has gained pace with Facebook coming to the fore and plenty of new sites such as Twitter making the news. If you want to hook up with me on Facebook I am trefor davies. On twitter I am tref – the benefits of being an early entrant.

This year people have moved on from talking about VoIP to talking about Unified Communications which is good for Timico because that really is where our VoIP service has been pitched since the beginning. The rising cost of fuel and the green agenda is also helping to drive the market for us.

I am very excited about 2009, despite the economic downturn . It is an opportunity though I’m sure not without its challenges. The landscape is going to change yet again and it is good to be part of the game.

Trefor Davies

By Trefor Davies

Liver of life, father of four, CTO of trefor.net, writer, poet, philosopherontap.com

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