A RAPIDLY growing tech firm that has underpinned much of the recent digital transformation of Scotland’s schools, libraries and businesses has made the North East of England its next focus area.
Commsworld is one of the UK’s leading network providers, managing and controlling the largest privately-funded optical core network in the country.
In helping deliver major council ICT contracts in Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Scottish Borders, it has helped to radically modernise networks in these areas – with Scotland’s two largest cities increasingly recognised globally as centres of tech, education and business excellence.
Thanks to that work in Edinburgh alone, 324 council owned sites including 130 schools now benefit from bandwidth in the region of 100 times faster than the UK average – and 17,000 businesses also have the opportunity to use the network.
As well as its work in major UK cities, Commsworld revolutionised the Scottish Borders’ economy by updating the area’s outdated infrastructure to provide speeds comparable to any major UK city.
As a result of its recent 2000km network expansion, the firm now has the potential to finally deliver that same level of service to organisations (in both public and private sector) across the North East of England.
Ricky Nicol, Commsworld CEO, said: “We’ve a proven track record of taking on the major players and providing a service and output which they would find harder to do in the given timescales.
“In Scotland, thanks in part to our work on local authority ICT contracts we’ve revolutionised cities with ultrafast full fibre connectivity which has made them a magnet for world-leading businesses keen to ultilise digitally advanced connections.
“Our work has social inclusion at its heart with not only businesses and council leaders feeling the benefit but also schools and local people who feel the tangible surge in the economy which our work generates.
“The North East of England has a proud tradition of success based on hard-work and dedication – and it’s that mentality that makes our dedicated team excited to deliver projects that will transform the digital footprint and capabilities of the region.”
Commsworld’s record £30 million contract as part of the Glasgow City Council ICT project is on an even larger scale to Edinburgh.
In June, a senior-level team presented the firm’s upcoming plans at an event hosted in partnership with the business improvement district, NE1 Ltd – and is hoping to follow up with similar events in the coming months.
Andy Arkle, Comercial Director at Commsworld, said: “We’re already on-net and connected to multiple datacentres in Newcastle with clients operating from the city.
“Our market-disruptive work in Scotland has been delivered ahead of schedule and is totally flexible – schools in Edinburgh and Glasgow can now change from 10mb/s to 1gb/s within just five days’ notice. This creates digital skills in the classroom and a workforce fit for the future.
“Businesses have reported productivity improvements while new start-ups are attracted to cities where their workers can enjoy greater flexibility thanks to cloud based solutions – which makes working from home easier.
“We’re excited to deliver our network capabilities across the North East of England and spread the associated benefits across a host of different areas, whether urban or rural.”
The firm has also been recognised as a Platinum Partner by leading business communications experts Mitel, becoming just one of 12 businesses in Britain to achieve the status – specialising on delivering unified communications and omni-channel data centres.
Commsworld’s connectivity products and services are underpinned by its optical core network and fully managed cloud and security solutions.
The firm, founded in 1994, is headquartered in Edinburgh, though has bases in London, Glasgow and Aberdeen and has grown to more than 100 staff.