Planet Online

Last updated

Planet Online
Industry Internet Service Provider
FoundedJuly 1995;27 years ago (1995-07)
Founder
DefunctAugust 2000 (2000-08)
FateAcquired by Energis Squared
Headquarters,
Website Official website OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg [ dead link ]

Planet Online was a UK business-to-business Internet Service Provider. Based in Leeds, it was started by local businessman and multi-millionaire Peter Wilkinson and Paul Sykes in July 1995.

Managed from a purpose-built NOC in Leeds, Planet's network was first switched on in October 1995 with over 2,000 businesses connected by the end of the following year. [1] The office in Leeds was shared with hardware specialist and sister company ESS, with the two formally merging on 1 January 1997. [2] The merged company retained the Planet Online name.

Planet was sold to Energis in August 1998 for £85m [3] at a time when it carried around 40% of all internet traffic in the UK. [4] In August 2000, the company was renamed Energis Squared and given new branding consistent with that of its parent. It was later integrated into the rest of the Energis business, losing its separate identity.

Planet notably provided the back-end infrastructure for the consumer ISP Freeserve, led by John Pluthero, which helped it to become one of the UK's few profitable ISPs at that time. Then as Cable & Wireless Worldwide, itself led by Pluthero until 2011 [5] then as part of Vodafone and subsequently IBM [6] the company continues to provide similar services to Freeserve's ultimate successor, Orange Broadband.

The company was winner of the Best Business ISP award at the ISPA Internet Industry Awards in 1999 and 2000.

Related Research Articles

The Isle of Man has an extensive communications infrastructure consisting of telephone cables, submarine cables, and an array of television and mobile phone transmitters and towers.

Telecommunications in the United Kingdom have evolved from the early days of the telegraph to modern broadband and mobile phone networks with Internet services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pipex</span> 1990–2008 British Internet service provider

Pipex was the United Kingdom's first commercial Internet service provider (ISP). It was formed in 1990 and helped to develop the ISP market in the UK. In 1992 it began operating a 64k transatlantic leased line and built a connection to the UK government's JANET network. One of its first customers was Demon Internet which popularised dial up modem based internet access in the UK. It was also one of the key players in the development of the London Internet Exchange through a meeting with BT in 1994.

Demon Internet was a British Internet service provider, initially an independent business, later operating as a brand of Vodafone. It was one of the UK's earliest ISPs, offering dial-up Internet access services from 1 June 1992. According to the Daily Telegraph, it "sparked a revolution by becoming the first to provide genuinely affordable access to the internet in the UK".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cable & Wireless Worldwide</span> British multinational telecommunications services company

Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC was a British multinational telecommunications services company headquartered in Bracknell, United Kingdom. It was formed in 2010 by the split of Cable & Wireless plc into two companies, the other being Cable & Wireless Communications serving Central America and the Caribbean.

<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.

Freeserve was a British Internet service provider, which was founded in 1998. At its height, the company became a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, before merging into the Wanadoo group in 2000. It then became a subsidiary of France Telecom, who owned a controlling interest in Wanadoo. Wanadoo rebranded over time and eventually became Orange Home UK.

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

BT Communications (Ireland) Limited is a telecommunications and internet company in Ireland. It is a subsidiary of BT Group plc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thus (company)</span>

Thus was a telecommunications provider operating in the United Kingdom based in Glasgow, Scotland. The company was once listed on the London Stock Exchange and became a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW). Following the acquisition of Cable & Wireless Worldwide by Vodafone in July 2012, the company was gradually integrated into Vodafone. This was completed on 1 April 2013.

<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.

Vodafone UK is a British telecommunications services provider, and a part of Vodafone Group Plc, the world's second-largest mobile phone company. Vodafone is the third-largest mobile network operator in the United Kingdom, with 16.9 million subscribers as of November 2021, after EE and O2, followed by Three.

Liberty Global plc is a British-Dutch-American multinational telecommunications company with headquarters in London, Amsterdam and Denver. Its respective legal names are Liberty Global Plc, Liberty Global B.V. and Liberty Global, Inc., with the first of these being publicly traded. It was formed in 2005 by the merger of the international arm of Liberty Media and UnitedGlobalCom (UGC).

Energis Communications Limited, briefly Telecom Electric, or more usually just Energis, was a 'technology driven communications company' based in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, but subsequently went into administration, and then became a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless, in turn acquired by Vodafone.

Vodafone New Zealand Limited is a New Zealand telecommunications company. It was a subsidiary of the London-listed company Vodafone Plc until 31 July 2019, when its sale to a consortium comprising Infratil Limited and Brookfield Asset Management Inc. was settled. Vodafone is based in Auckland and was formed in 1998, after Vodafone purchased BellSouth's New Zealand operations. The company employs over 3,000 people and has operations nationwide, with its main offices based in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The company is part of New Zealand Telecommunications Forum. Vodafone is the largest wireless carrier in New Zealand, with 2.5 million subscribers as of July 2019.

Vodafone Portugal – Comunicações Pessoais, S.A., a full subsidiary of the Vodafone Group, is the second mobile operator in Portugal, both chronologically and in market share. Its competitors are NOS and Meo.

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.

Malta has been involved with the Internet since the latter's early days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet in the United Kingdom</span> Overview of the Internet in the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has been involved with the Internet throughout its origins and development. The telecommunications infrastructure in the United Kingdom provides Internet access to businesses and home users in various forms, including fibre, cable, DSL, wireless and mobile.

Cable & Wireless Communications Ltd operating as C&W Communications is a telecommunications company which has operations in the Caribbean and Central America. It is owned by Liberty Latin America and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

References

  1. "About Planet". 21 December 1997. Archived from the original on 21 December 1997. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  2. "Online - Spring 1997". 15 January 1998. Archived from the original on 15 January 1998. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  3. "The Company File | Sykes sells Planet Online". BBC News. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  4. "Profile: Paul Sykes". BBC News. 5 October 2004. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  5. Garside, Juliette (15 November 2011). "Cable & Wireless Worldwide ousts chief executive and cancels dividend". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  6. Newman, Peter. "Vodafone and IBM sign a $550 million deal forming joint venture". Business Insider. Retrieved 28 January 2021.