Ionica (company)

Last updated

Ionica Logo Ionica.png
Ionica Logo
An Ionica dish Ionicadish.JPG
An Ionica dish

Ionica was a domestic telecoms provider based in Cambridge, UK, operating between 1995 and 1998.

Contents

Founded in 1991, Ionica offered an alternative technology to British Telecom. The Ionica system used a microwave transmitter in order to provide the local loop, thus avoiding reliance on British Telecom for this final link to the consumer. The technology, known as Wireless local loop (WLL), was developed in partnership with Nortel. However, rising costs and limiting technical factors caused the company to cease trading in 1998.

Floatation

The company floated in July 1997 with shares initially trading at 390p. At its peak Ionica was valued at over one billion pounds, the first Silicon Fen company to reach that value.

Goals and technical limitations

The company’s initial aim was to take twenty per cent of the domestic market with offers such as multiple ringing tones and a free second line but the technology used proved to be limited, with heavy rain and local radio transmissions interfering with calls. Despite the technology having been used with great success in remote areas of Canada, it proved to be unsuitable in a British urban setting. In particular the technology used spectrum at 3.5 GHz, which limited line-of-sight range to the base station and was narrowband, which meant it could not provide broadband Internet access.

Failure

First signs that Ionica was in trouble came when expansion plans were put on hold in an attempt to improve service and add much needed capacity in existing markets such as Yorkshire, The Midlands and East Anglia.

By March 1998 the company was looking to bring in an outside investor and shortly after failed to agree terms with existing investors for the £300 million debts already accumulated. By August 1998 Ionica had failed to find a 'strategic partner', and despite strong assurances that cash resources of £45 million would keep the company solvent until January 1999 many observers predicted its imminent demise.

Into administration

On Thursday 29 October 1998 administrators were called in. The company's assets were valued at £250 million. The following Monday 2 November 1998 the administrators made around half of the company's 1,200 staff redundant.

The administration process was finally wound up in March 2009. [1]

Customer migration and end of service

From December 1998 onwards Ionica's 62,000 customers were gradually migrated to British Telecom with special prices being offered to support their move. In the meantime BT supported Ionica financially, allowing customers to continue using their telephones.

Service finally ceased on 28 February 1999.

Former headquarters

The former Ionica building was constructed in 1994 and is located on St John’s Innovation Park, adjacent to the A14. Despite an apparently desirable location the building remained vacant for much of the time since the demise of Ionica. CSR plc moved into the building in May 2007.

Related Research Articles

Local loop unbundling is the regulatory process of allowing multiple telecommunications operators to use connections from the telephone exchange to the customer's premises. The physical wire connection between the local exchange and the customer is known as a "local loop", and is owned by the incumbent local exchange carrier. To increase competition, other providers are granted unbundled access.

Wireless local loop (WLL) is the use of a wireless communications link as the "last mile / first mile" connection for delivering plain old telephone service (POTS) or Internet access to telecommunications customers. Various types of WLL systems and technologies exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spark New Zealand</span> Telecommunications company in New Zealand

Spark New Zealand Limited is a New Zealand telecommunications and digital services company providing fixed-line telephone services, mobile phone services, broadband, and digital technology services. Its customers range from consumers to small - medium business, government agencies and large enterprise clients. It was formerly known as Telecom New Zealand until it was rebranded to Spark on 8 August 2014. It has operated as a publicly traded company since 1990. Spark's mobile network reaches 98% of New Zealand, with over 2.7 million mobile connections and 687,000 broadband connections

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vodafone</span> British multinational telecommunications company

Vodafone Group Plc is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SK Telecom</span> South Korean telecommunications company

SK Telecom Co., Ltd., abbreviated as SKT is a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator and former film distributor and is part of the SK Group, one of the country's largest chaebols. It leads the local market with 50.5 percent share as of 2008. SK Telecom is the largest wireless carrier in South Korea, with 23 million subscribers as of Q4 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercury Communications</span> British telephone company

Mercury Communications was a national telephone company in the United Kingdom, formed in 1981 as a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless, to challenge the then-monopoly of British Telecom (BT). Although it proved only moderately successful at challenging BT's dominance, it led the way for new communication companies to attempt the same.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cable & Wireless plc</span> British telecom firm

Cable & Wireless plc was a British telecommunications company. In the mid-1980s, it became the first company in the UK to offer an alternative telephone service to British Telecom. The company later offered cable TV to its customers, but it sold its cable assets to NTL in 2000. It remained a significant player in the UK telecoms market and in certain overseas markets, especially in the former British colonies of the Caribbean, where it was formerly the monopoly incumbent. It was also the main supplier of communication in the British South Atlantic, including Saint Helena and the Falkland Islands. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Globe Telecom</span> Telecommunications company in the Philippines

Globe Telecom, Inc., commonly shortened as Globe, is a major provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines. The company operates the largest mobile network in the Philippines and one of the largest fixed-line and broadband networks. As of November 2023, Globe has 54.7 million subscribers, making it the second largest network in terms of subscriber base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TelstraClear</span> New Zealand telecommunications company

TelstraClear Limited was New Zealand's second-largest telecommunications company before being acquired by Vodafone New Zealand in October 2012, previous to which it was a subsidiary of Australian company Telstra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embarq</span> American technology company

Embarq Corporation was the largest independent local exchange carrier in the United States, serving customers in 18 states and providing local, long-distance, high-speed data and wireless services to residential and business customers. It had been formerly the local telephone division (LTD) of Sprint Nextel until 2006, when it was spun off as an independent company. Embarq produced more than $6 billion in revenues annually, and had approximately 18,000 employees. It was based in Overland Park, Kansas.

The telecommunications industry in China is dominated by three state-run businesses: China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile. The three companies were formed by restructuring launched in May 2008, directed by the Ministry of Information Industry (MII), National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Minister of Finance. Since then, all three companies gained nationwide fixed-line and cellular mobile telecom licenses in China. In 2019, all three telecoms were issued 5G national licenses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orange UK</span> 1994–2010 UK mobile network operator and ISP

Orange UK was a mobile network operator and internet service provider in the United Kingdom, launched in 1994. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was purchased by France Télécom in 2000, which then adopted the Orange brand for all its other mobile communications activities. Orange UK merged with Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile UK to form a joint venture, EE in 2010. EE continued to operate the Orange brand until February 2015, when new connections and upgrades on Orange tariffs were withdrawn. Existing Orange customers could continue on their plans until March 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neuf Cegetel</span>

Neuf Cegetel was a French wireline telecommunications service provider and a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). It offered various telecommunications services to consumers, enterprises and wholesale customers, ranking second in the country in annual revenues. It was legally established in 2005 following the completion of the merger between Neuf Telecom and Cegetel. As of June 2008, the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of SFR, and the brand disappeared commercially.

Manx Telecom Ltd. is the primary provider of broadband and telecommunications on the Isle of Man. It is owned by Basalt Infrastructure Partners LLP.

Internet access is widely available in New Zealand, with 94% of New Zealanders having access to the internet as of January 2021. It first became accessible to university students in the country in 1989. As of June 2018, there are 1,867,000 broadband connections, of which 1,524,000 are residential and 361,000 are business or government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WorldCall</span>

WorldCall Telecom Limited is a Pakistani telecommunication and multimedia service provider based in Lahore, Pakistan. It is listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National broadband plan</span> National plans to deploy broadband Internet access

Broadband is a term normally considered to be synonymous with a high-speed connection to the internet. Suitability for certain applications, or technically a certain quality of service, is often assumed. For instance, low round trip delay would normally be assumed to be well under 150ms and suitable for Voice over IP, online gaming, financial trading especially arbitrage, virtual private networks and other latency-sensitive applications. This would rule out satellite Internet as inherently high-latency. In some applications, utility-grade reliability or security are often also assumed or defined as requirements. There is no single definition of broadband and official plans may refer to any or none of these criteria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom Mobile</span> Canadian wireless service provider

Freedom Mobile, a Canadian wireless telecommunications provider owned by Québecor, holds a 6% market share of the Canadian wireless market, primarily concentrated in urban areas of Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba. As the fourth-largest wireless carrier in Canada, Freedom Mobile serves 2,290,497 subscribers as of November 30, 2022. In addition to mobile phone plans, Freedom also offers home internet and TV services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hormuud Telecom</span> Somalian telecommunications company

Hormuud Telecom Somalia Inc. is a privately held telecommunications company based in Mogadishu, Somalia. It is the largest telecommunication company and largest private-sector employer in the country, and also Somalia's first private enterprise to be internationally ISO certified.

LIME, an acronym for 'Landline, Internet, Mobile, Entertainment', was a communications provider owned by the British based Cable & Wireless Communications for its operations in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Turks & Caicos in the Caribbean.

References