A £100 million expansion and overhaul of KCom’s network has been unveiled as it launches its full fibre future. Plans to deliver for generations to come have been released a decade on from the first leap of faith in broadband development. The Hull-based provider is investing huge sums into the city, wider Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, to give the region what it claims will be the “fastest, future...
Nissan has approved a “bidirectional charger” developed by US-based tech firm Fermata Energy that can send power back to the grid. It means the technology will be available for Nissan Leaf drivers in the US, initially commercial and government fleet owners. The Fermata Energy FE-15 charger can send energy stored in the vehicle’s battery back to a nearby building or the grid during times of peak...
Belfast health tech company Blue Zinc has been bought by London software and payments company ClearCourse for an undisclosed sum. The new parent company said the deal offers “clear synergies” between with its existing clinical management software business and will also allow Blue Zine to grow with the investment and guidance from ClearCourse. Co-founders and current joint Managing Directors of...
A three-fold investment plan was unveiled by KCom last week. Business editor David Laister heard what a platform the past 10 years have provided – and why it is so important to keep building on the huge broadband leap of faith taken. KCom’s huge investment in a full fibre future has brought added impetus to a Hull MP’s campaign to make the city the UK’s co-working capital. The £100 million...
TalkTalk has created two new wholesale divisions and announced its intention to launch a competitive tender. The Salford-headquartered group said the newly formed TalkTalk Business Wholesale Services division will be led by Tom O’Hagan, founder and CEO of Virtual1, which was acquired in April. It will offer “premium and high bandwidth” services to resellers, aggregators and system integrators and...
An award-winning East Yorkshire start-up has partnered with University of Hull to develop a new online tool to help deliveries go green. The brainchild of Elloughton’s Paul Needler – ‘the accidental entrepreneur’ who won the Innovation and Technology Award at the Hull Live Business Awards 2021 – IParcelBox is a smart residential parcel delivery locker, providing a time-saving solution to missed...
A Wiltshire-based telecoms business has been acquired by fast-growing tech group Babble for an undisclosed sum. Business phone systems specialist Berry Telecom, headquartered in Salisbury, was founded by directors Simon Langford and Paul Hallam in 2011, and serves around 1,700 customers. The company is one of two freshly snapped up by London-based Babble, a communications, contact centre and...
An app valued at just under £1m that helps women walk home safely has launched a new fundraising drive. Walksafe, which is registered in Chester, saw its usage soar following the murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa and secured a £300,000 investment led by Manchester-based Fearless Adventures earlier this year. The app includes regularly updated police crime data to show users where the...
The Pixel 3a, Google’s new ‘lite’ version of its flagship phone, has been rapturously received in the US where it costs $399. Here in the UK where the Pixel 3a is £399, its reception has been positive if slightly more muted. This is a capable smartphone that mostly cuts the correct corners in order to keep the price down and bucks the trend for silly tech extras that don’t amount to much. The...
A University of Bath spin-out has secured £1.1m to develop technology it believes could “revolutionise” the treatment of diabetes. Transdermal Diagnostics (TD) is working towards commercialising a wearable “smart-patch” which it says could be the first completely needle-free blood sugar monitor. The device is designed to use miniaturised biosensors to sample fluid bathing the living cells of skin...