Previder
Low Cost, High Quality Previder has gone from strength to strength since its 2006 acquisition by the Odin Group, and is now looking to introduce its reputable Datacenter and IT solutions to an international audience Writer: Matthew StaffProject Manager: Dan Hester Previder is striving to make waves on an international scale after securing its position as one of the leading data centre providers in Holland over the past decade.Opening its doors as Introweb back in 1996 as an internet service provider (ISP), the company as it is currently known and renowned was kickstarted in 2006 following an acquisition from the Odin Group.The subsequent nine years of rebranding, development, expansion and improvement has made Previder one of the leading business partners of choice within the tech domain in the Netherlands; something which Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Eric Vredeveldt attributes to the transformation of key services being offered following the Odin acquisition.“The Odin Group of Companies acquired Introweb with the vision of expanding the hosting and ISP services we were already active in, but adding data centre activities as well,” he explains. “We then started planning the build of our brand new data centre, which was 2,500 square metres in size, and we finished that in 2010.”Named PDC2 (Previder Data Centre 2), it was evident to the company very early on that this concept could be improved upon and Previder soon capitalised on the opportunity to build PDC1, an even larger data centre to provide an overall twin concept to send into the market.“As of 2010, we were renamed Previder and…
Are Telecoms Shooting Down Skype And Viber With New LTE Technology? (Part Two)
By Jakob Sand, BDOSlow moving train – at first For telecoms, 2015 looks set to be a big year in regards to VoLTE. In countries from Australia to Venezuela, including markets in the US, UK and China, the technology is being rolled out or trialled.In the long run, telecoms will be able to dismantle some of their current infrastructure as 4G in general and specifically VoLTE becomes standard for all voice and video calls, as well as freeing up valuable bandwidth to meet ever-increasing demands. “It helps them to reduce costs especially with regard to maintaining several separate networks. Until now, they needed to run a second network - either 2G or 3G - in order to be able to provide voice services. This requirement is not necessary anymore and they can focus on LTE as the ‘only’ technology for the entire range of services,” Christian Götz, Partner in Corporate Finance, BDO Germany, says. The changes are still in their infancy, but will gather pace in the coming years, meaning that telecoms stand to save a lot of money on infrastructure. In the shorter term, these services will augment the current offerings that telecoms have, and put them in a better position to fight back against apps like Skype and Viber. While the current drop in minutes that people are spending on voice calls via telecoms’ services is limited, there is a much more pronounced drop in relation to international calls. Offering customers a higher quality alternative with new features might turn that tide, and prevent it happening…
MWC: The Must-See Gadgets of 2015
Mobile World Congress 2015 (MWC) retains its title as one of the key technology events where captains of industry break news, showcase their latest innovations and even launch products big and small. Cnet described this years’ event as showing off “interest-piquing gadgets and big-name speakers proving that the mobile industry is still evolving in critical ways”. From flagship smartphones and watches to the darn right weird and wonderful tech of the future, MWC is a platform that delivers year after year. Europe Outlook takes a look at some of the technological wonders debuting at the event, hand-picking some of this years’ most talked-about gadgets.SmartphonesOrange and Firefox to launch $40 phone in developing countriesCheaper smartphones still play a vital role in connecting people in emerging countries around the world. In line with this mantra, Orange expect to sell millions of its new Klif device with Mozilla’s Firefox OS pre-loaded, and will be launching the phone in the second quarter of 2015 on a $40 package deal to 13 countries in Africa and the Middle East. The device will come bundled with six months of voice, text and data services.At MWC, Mozilla identified that the low-budget category in developing nations would be an excellent entry point to get noticed and distinguish themselves from Google and Apple, whose software typically requires more powerful, expensive hardware.“We will address this part of the population who still don’t have access to the internet,” Yves Maitre, Orange’s Executive Vice President of Connected Objects and Partnerships stated. “In this part of the world, smartphone penetration is…
Telefónica Agrees Sale of O2 to Hutchison Whampoa
Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL), parent company of UK telecom operator Three, has entered into an agreement with Telefónica to buy its UK subsidiary, O2 UK, for a final total of £10.25 billion. The timing and amounts of these payments will depend on the actual cash flow positions of the combined businesses.The acquisition of O2 UK will create the number one mobile operator in the UK with almost 33 million customers and the deal is expected to generate significant synergy potential. This combination will provide our business with the scale and financial strength necessary to be an even more effective and aggressive competitor in the rapidly evolving UK telecommunications sector. The combined business will have a much stronger ability to compete and businesses and consumers alike will benefit from the combined networks which will deliver better network coverage and quality of service.Commenting on the deal Canning Fok, Group Managing Director of HWL, said: “We are proud of the business built up by Three in the UK. It is a market leader in mobile data and customers benefit from a superior high speed mobile data network. The signature of definitive agreements with Telefónica today is a major milestone. Completion of the transaction is expected in 2016 as it is of course subject to conditions, including most importantly, satisfactory approvals from competition regulators.“The combination of Three UK and O2 UK will create a business with unmatched scale and strength that will allow us to better compete against other operators in the marketplace and will also enable us to provide even better service…
Are Telecoms Shooting Down Skype And Viber With New LTE Technology? (Part One)
By Jakob Sand, BDOTelecoms companies all over the world are busy rolling out their Voice over 4G LTE technology, also known as VoLTE.For telecoms, VoLTE kills two birds with one stone by lowering their costs as well as giving them the means to offer higher quality and new services to end consumers. It also looks likely that telecoms are getting ready to lob VoLTE in the general direction of some of their newest competitors.“One of the things that VoLTE does is that it puts the Voice over IP applications like Skype, Google Hangouts and Viber squarely in the crosshairs of the telecoms,” IDC’s Telecom Industry Analyst Rosalind Craven says. “VoLTE gives seamless integration of voice and video calls and can provide a higher quality alternative to these services.“While it is difficult to know whether telecoms are also willing to compete with the VoIP services on price, it does lead to an interesting confrontation.”The stakes of the confrontation could, in other words, be as high as the future of voice and video messaging.Recent bad memories could be set for repeatFor the telecoms, there are plenty of reasons to take on the newcomers.A report from the telecoms and media research company, Ovum predicts that telecommunications providers stand to lose a combined $386 billion of the so-called over-the-top (OTT) voice over IP (VoIP) services.To put it into perspective, they stand to lose more than the entire annual GDP of the likes of Hong Kong, Austria or Norway. At the same time, we are spending more and more time on…
Brother Launches Two Smart and Simple Mobile Printing Solutions
PrintSmart Mobile Zone is designed for businesses who want to offer on-the-go printing as a service to their customers. Hotels, libraries and airports are able to embrace the growing demands from customers for simple and secure mobile services. PrintSmart Mobile has been developed for SMBs who want to make mobile printing simple for their employees and easy to control and manage by IT staff. By using a smartphone, tablet or laptop, employees can print to any printer – effortlessly, wirelessly and securely. Both solutions offer users the option to print by email, web upload, mobile app (iOS, Android and Blackberry) or PrintWhere driver (for Windows devices). They are fully cloud-based, do not require any onsite software and are compatible with Brother’s latest Business Colour Laser and Business Mono Laser range of printers.Chris Marshall, Commercial Director for Brother Europe said: “We are bringing two new mobile print solutions to market, which are designed to make printing from a variety of mobile devices straightforward, as well as providing the ability to offer mobile print facilities as a public service using our high-quality laser printers. “From an IT department perspective, it means a straightforward solution for mobile print – without wasted time spent configuring complicated software and installing multiple drivers.” Recent IDC research1 commissioned by Brother revealed that there is a clear customer need for printing from mobile devices – if it was easy to do so. It showed that 75% of companies have had requests from employees to print from mobile devices. However, 51% of smartphone users did not know they had…
Brother’s Return & Recycle Campaign Protects 1.3 Million Trees
Brother customers across Europe have protected over 1.3 million trees in the Peruvian rainforest - by taking part in its ink cartridge and toner return and recycle campaign.Brother launched its Eco Rewards initiative in partnership with pioneering rainforest sustainability charity - Cool Earth, back in 2010. In return for businesses and individuals getting involved in its free return and recycle scheme, Brother pledged to help protect endangered rainforests too. Almost six million ink cartridges and toners have now been returned to Brother as part of the campaign - protecting more than 2,270 acres of the Peruvian Amazon. The office technology company is one of Cool Earth’s leading corporate partners and is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its Eco Rewards pledge. Geoff Lockton, Executive Director of Corporate Governance at Brother International Europe comments: “Rainforest destruction has a massive impact on climate change and the funding we’ve provided is helping to reduce carbon emissions caused by deforestation. “Our customers have really embraced the return and recycle scheme – ensuring their used ink and toner cartridges and drums are disposed of and recycled responsibly, while at the same time playing an important part in our Cool Earth pledge to support the fantastic work the charity does.” Matthew Owen, Director at Cool Earth said: “Brother was our first major corporate partner and its support has helped our charity really flourish over the past five years. Its funding has enabled our partners in the Peruvian Amazon to protect the rainforest around-the-clock and keep illegal loggers at bay. With our support, communities are building sustainable livelihoods through produce, such as…
EE to Provide 4G Coverage for 90% of the UK by 2017
The UK’s largest mobile operator, EE, has new plans to bring 4G speeds of 60 Mbps to 90 percent of the UK by 2017. In addition, 20 of the UK’s busiest cities will get a boost up to 150 Mbps speeds during the same time frame. EE has set aside £1.5 billion to fund the project. The telecoms giant also has ambitious plans to bring 4G overage to 99 percent of the country by 2017. Boosting 4G up to 60 Mbps will mean that the majority of users will see their speeds double. “Stage one of our network strategy saw us overhaul UK mobile networks, launching 4G and changing the way people and businesses use their smart devices. This revolution of the mobile landscape has made the UK a leader in global communications once again,” EE Chief Executive, Olaf Swantee, said.“Today we’re announcing the next stage with a commitment to once again radically improve mobile coverage, this time with a strong focus on rural UK, all while continuing to increase speeds and capacity with deeper coverage in more cities. Smart devices are playing an ever-increasing part in our customers’ lives in every part of the UK,” he added.
BT Agrees US$19 Billion EE Deal
As the UK’s biggest fixed-line telecoms provider, BT has spent the last few weeks in exclusive talks with the owners of EE, Orange and Deutsche Telekom to negotiate a deal. BT has confirmed it will fund the cash and shares deal through new debt and the placing of new shares. Following the transaction, Deutsche will hold a 12 percent stake in BT and Orange will hold a 4 percent stake. “This is a major milestone for BT as it will allow us to accelerate our mobility plans and increase our investment in them,” BT Chief Executive, Gavin Patterson said. “The UK's leading 4G network will now dovetail with the UK's biggest fiber network, helping to create the leading converged communications provider in the UK.”Through the acquisition of the country's biggest superfast mobile network, BT said it would accelerate its plans to give retail customers seamless access to the internet whether via fibre broadband in buildings or with Wi-Fi hotspots and 4G mobile services.The telecoms giant expects to achieve combined operating cost and capital investment savings of around 360 million pounds per year in the fourth full year and it also expects to generate revenue synergies with a total net present value of around US$2.4 billion. In a separate statement, EE revealed that its 4G customer base had risen to 7.7 million subscribers, beating it six million end-of-year target. It also reported a 0.2 percent drop in full-year operating revenue excluding the effect of regulation.
Oracle OpenWorld
Oracle OpenWorld San Francisco is the most important annual business and technology conference for Oracle customers, prospective customers, and partners. It offers thousands of educational sessions, hundreds of demos and hands-on labs and exhibitions from more than 450 partners and customers from around the world showcasing applications, middleware, database, server and storage systems, industries, management, cloud, and infrastructure solutions-all engineered for innovation.
