News

Blast from the past - most read on Comms Business

MSPs
If you spend any time looking around the Comms Business website you may get an attack of nostalgia as stories and features, sometimes from more than a decade ago, rear their heads on our most read lists. Here we take a brief look at those stories which just keep coming back.

What ever happened to BABT? - 22/02/2007

In 1982, British Approvals Board for Telecommunications (BABT) was created to approve telecoms equipment against the recently privatized British Telecom (BT) technical guides and specifications for use on the UK telecoms network provided by BT alone. In May 1992, BABT issued the very first GSM approval to Orbitel. Today, BABT has grown and developed to become a globally recognised and respected assessment body offering a complete range of Certification and Regulatory services for the Radio, Telecoms and IT sectors.

Westcon Convergence Reseller Awards - 28/08/2007

Awards given to the top resellers of the day on behalf of Avaya, Nortel, Samsung, Trapeze, Packeteer and Extreme. Take a look who the top Westcon resellers were just 12 years ago!

BT announces new organisational structure - 1/02/2016

Although published just three and a half years ago this story just keeps coming back. Mostly because it remains a point of contention with industry stakeholders and the regulator, Ofcom. A lot has happened over at BT in the last three years, I am yet to see any Channel business jump for joy at the changes or report any improved services from Openreach. The story will undoubtedly continue as we approach a time with a huge amount of investment into the fibre sector in the UK and the PSTN network is put out to pasture in 2025.

FEATURES

The Hazards of setting up Wifi in the workplace - 31/03/2014

Still a very relevant piece for any reseller looking to sell WiFi, although the connectivity conversation has moved on in the last five years this would indicate there is still the need for support and information around WiFi services.

Trends in Mobile Distribution - 01/02/2016

Again, another topic which surprisingly is still making an appearance. Mobile distribution has been a sector which has seen margins dwindle, on the hardware side, but has enabled new types of players into the market. I also suspect that many IT and pure comms partners who have been looking to broaden their portfolio's have started by looking at mobile as a natural extension to what they are already doing.

Software Defined Networking (SDN) Explained - 23/05/2016

Another one from 2016, software defined networking is more relevant than ever but we are still in the infancy of establishing the market in the UK. SD-WAN has been touted as the next major Channel opportunity and with some clear definitions in place, set by Gartner, the market is aligning itself to the Channel in big way.

The Swan Effect - 18/05/2015

An interview with previous Head of Operations and Network Services at GCI, Sean Cowan. Why the interest in GCI? This is an interesting period in GCI's history just before current CEO Adrian Thirkill stepped into his position and built a management team before going on a spending spree which would see GCI emerge as one of the largest Microsoft houses in the UK. The latest acquisition happened a few months ago which saw GCI pick up Modality to start their international expansion.

Comm Sense, interview with Stephen Higgins - 1/10/2009

We don't hear a lot from this company these days, at the time they had just made it to their 10 year anniversary. Companies House suggests they are still rocking and rolling but unfortunately their website doesn't seem to be active.

SIP vs ISDN - no contest 18/05 2015

The SIP market has always attracted the attention of our readers so it was no surprise to see this feature among the top viewed pieces online. With just six short years until the PSTN switch-off partners are looking at ways to migrate their legacy bases onto IP technology without hurting their back-pocket in the process. I expect the interest in this market to remain high.