| KCOM Group PLC | |
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| Type | Public (LSE: KCOM) |
| Founded | Originated 1882, floated as PLC 1999 |
| Headquarters | Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Malcolm Fallen, Chief Executive Officer Michael Abrahams CBE, Chairman (non-executive) |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Products | Retail and Wholesale local and national telecommunications services, Broadband and internet services (Eclipse Internet and Karoo), IT and Network Solutions (Affiniti), Mobile service (KC Mobile) |
| Revenue | ▼£ 80. A public company usually refers to a company that is permitted to offer its registered securities ( Stock, bonds, etc The London Stock Exchange or LSE is a Stock exchange located in London, England. Kingston upon Hull ( almost invariably referred The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A chief executive officer ( CEO) or chief executive is typically the highest-ranking corporate officer ( executive) or administrator The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" In Marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a Market that might satisfy a want or need Eclipse Internet is a UK Internet Service Provider based out of Exeter, Devon. Karoo is an Internet Service Provider in the United Kingdom. Formed in 1996 by Kingston Communications, a subsidiary of the KCOM Group In business revenue or revenues is Income that a company receives from its normal business activities usually from the sale of goods and services 8 million GBP (Year-end 31 March 2006) |
| Employees | 2,236 (2005-06) |
| Website | www.kcom.com |
KCOM Group is a UK communications and IT services provider. The Pound Sterling ( symbol £; ISO code: GBP) subdivided into 100 pence (singular penny) is the Currency Events 307 - After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages It is headquartered in Kingston upon Hull, where subsidiary business unit Kingston Communications serves local residents and businesses with Internet and telephony services. Kingston upon Hull ( almost invariably referred
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History
On 22 August 1902, Hull Corporation (which later became Hull City Council) was granted a licence to operate a municipal telephone system in the Kingston Upon Hull area, opening its first telephone exchange in 1904 at the former Trippett Street Baths. Events 392 - Arbogast has Eugenius elected Western Roman Emperor. Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting (Kingston upon Hull City Council is the governing body for the Unitary authority and city of Kingston upon Hull.
At the time, there were a number of such municipal telephone companies around the UK, all of which - with the exception of the one in Hull - were gradually absorbed in to the Post Office Telephone department, which was subsequently to become British Telecom (BT). BT Group plc (formerly British Telecommunications plc) which trades as BT (ˌbiːˈtiː bee tee) (previously known as British Telecom and still
Hull's bid to renew its licence in 1914 was made conditional on the £192,000 purchase of National Telephone networks infrastructure. The council gave its approval, securing the future of the country's one remaining municipally owned corporation.
Hull has therefore remained an exception within the UK telephone network, being the only place in the UK not served by BT, and is noted for its distinctive cream coloured telephone boxes and innovative services, for example becoming the UK's first fully digital network in 1989 using Marconi System X telephone switches (Central Offices or Class 5 switches). The red telephone box, a public telephone kiosk designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, is a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, Malta Marconi Communications is a principal subsidiary of the Marconi Corporation plc and was formerly known as GEC Plessey Telecommunications (GPT. System X was the name of the UK's first national Digital Telephone exchange system In the field of Telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls
Since then, due to the relatively unusual nature of its network topology Kingston has also been able to pioneer services such as ADSL, Video on Demand and Digital TV. Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ( ADSL) is a form of DSL, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over Copper Telephone Video on demand ( VOD) or Audio video on demand ( AVOD) systems allow users to select and watch/listen Digital television (DTV is the sending and receiving of moving images and sound by discrete ( digital) signals in contrast to the analog signals used by In February 2006, Kingston Communications announced that it would be shutting its Video on Demand and Digital TV services (called Kingston Interactive TV - KIT) on 1 April 2006. Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
Kingston Communications was floated on the London stock exchange in 1999, during the peak of dot. com euphoria, and was for a short period in the FTSE 100 group of companies. The FTSE 100 Index (ˈfʊtsiː footsie, abbreviated Financial Times Stock Exchange Index) is a Share index of the 100 most highly capitalised The company celebrated its centenary five years later. [1]
The KCOM Group now consists of a number of group companies including Kingston Communications, Affiniti (merging Kingston InBusiness, Omnetica and technica) - its business integration and services arm and Eclipse, the Internet Service Provider; and has a national 2000 km SDH fibre-optic backbone. Eclipse Internet is a UK Internet Service Provider based out of Exeter, Devon.
Because of its small footprint, Kingston Communications' Hull operation is also in an enviable position with respect to predatory behaviour by rival operators. Although it is under the same Ofcom and EU obligations with respect to local loop unbundling the addressable market is so small that the economics do not - by and large - justify entry by other companies. The Office of Communications (Y Swyddfa Gyfathrebiadau or as it is more often known Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the Communication The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in Local loop unbundling ( LLU) is the regulatory process of allowing multiple Telecommunications operators use of connections from the Telephone exchange 's
To add more complications for any would-be rival of Kingston Communications is the fact that in Hull the first 1 km of wire from the exchange has a cross-section of 0. 3 mm sq, as opposed to the standard 0. 5 mm sq, require a more expensive DSLAM in the telephone exchange for providing an ADSL service. A Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer ( DSLAM, often pronounced dee-slam) allows Telephone lines to make faster connections to the Internet
Monopoly issues
As residents and most businesses in Hull are only served with telecoms services by Kingston Communications (KC), some service users are unhappy with the defacto monopoly position given to KC.
The main issue is that of Internet service provision; Kingston Communications' Karoo service is the only residential Broadband operator in the Hull area. Karoo is an Internet Service Provider in the United Kingdom. Formed in 1996 by Kingston Communications, a subsidiary of the KCOM Group The term broadband can have different meanings in different contexts Issues include concerns over KCs acceptable use policy, the cost of the service and the inability to use other providers. An acceptable use policy ( AUP; also sometimes acceptable usage policy) is a set of rules applied by network and website owners
In December 2005, Giacom, the owner of Hull24 - a rival broadband provider in the Hull area - complained to Ofcom regarding the provision of network access to KC's rivals. The Office of Communications (Y Swyddfa Gyfathrebiadau or as it is more often known Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the Communication The complaint is that "Giacom alleges that Kingston is not providing [network] access on reasonable terms as Kingston's pricing is anti-competitive and prohibitive to service providers [other than KC]". In April 2006 Giacom and Kingston resumed negotiations on a deal to allow Hull24 to use KC's network, as a result Giacom withdrew its complaint and Ofcom has closed the case. [2]
In August 2007 the alleged monopoly of Kingston Communications was referred to the European Commission by Yorkshire and Humber MEP Diana Wallis. The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive branch of the European Union. Yorkshire and the Humber is a Constituency of the European Parliament. A Member of the European Parliament ( English abbreviation MEP) is a member of the European Union 's legislative body the European Parliament. Diana Paulette Wallis (born 28 June 1954 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire) is a Member of the European Parliament for the Liberal [3].
Sports sponsorship
The ground shared by Hull City football club and the Hull FC rugby league team is sponsored by and named after Kingston Communications - the Kingston Communications Stadium, more commonly known simply as the KC Stadium. Hull City Association Football Club are an English football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered Hull FC is a professional Rugby league football club formed in 1865 and based in Hull, East Yorkshire, England. History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games The Kingston Communications Stadium, often shortened to KC Stadium or just the KC, is a multi-purpose facility in the city of Kingston upon Hull (Hull The Kingston Communications Stadium, often shortened to KC Stadium or just the KC, is a multi-purpose facility in the city of Kingston upon Hull (Hull Kingston Communications was announced as the shirt sponsor for Hull City from the 2007-08 season for at least two years. "Karoo" will appear on the home (amber) shirts and "Kingston Communications" will feature on the away (white) kit.
See also
External links
- KCOM Group Corporate website
- Kingston Communications (Telephony Services)
- Affiniti
- Karoo
- Eclipse Internet
- JAM IP
- Smart421
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