His appointment is in line with the company’s aggressive growth strategy as it ramps up the expansion of its core fibre network and the roll out of affordable full fibre services to businesses and the public sector, delivered through third party sales channels including telecom resellers, network installers and operators.
A veteran of the telecoms industry, Bob Falconer led Gamma Telecom for 15 years from the position of a start-up wholesale voice provider in 2003 to a substantial innovative and disruptive player in the UK B2B telecoms sector, consistently growing ebitda, profit and cash over the period. In October 2014 he oversaw a highly successful IPO of the business on AIM with the share price growing by a factor of four to May 2018 and a market cap of approximately £700 million. Gamma subsequently won the AIM "Company of the Year" award for 2017/18.
“This is a very exciting time to keep involved in the telecoms industry,” said Bob Falconer. “The reality of fibre to the premises and 5G is driving unprecedented change and with this Nextgenaccess has a compelling and differentiated full fibre offering. I relish helping the company’s excellent senior management team maximise the substantial market opportunities and growth potential on offer. I hope my industry and management experience can bring value and help ensure Nextgenaccess achieves its business goals. An integral part of this is the forging of strong mutually profitable relationships with channel partners.”
Commented Mark Weller, Managing Director of Nextgenaccess: “Having Bob Falconer on board is a major coup for Nextgenaccess. He is highly regarded throughout the industry, a channel champion and well-versed in turning the full fibre regulatory landscape to advantage. Being able to call on Bob’s high calibre expertise and guidance will undoubtedly sharpen our competitive edge as we look to accelerate growth and take the business to the next level.”
He added: “2019 promises to be a very exciting year for Nextgenaccess and our growing network of channel partners as we continue the rapid roll out of next generation full-fibre broadband at a proven lower cost than traditional telecoms operators.”
Nextgenaccess recently secured a £22 million investment from the National Digital Infrastructure Fund (NDIF) to develop its UK 10Gb fibre network. NDIF, a commercial fund established in 2017 by Amber Infrastructure Group, has acquired a significant minority shareholding in NGA. The Amber Infrastructure Group has over £8 billion under management with interests in energy, property and transport.