Founded in 2004, business Internet Service Provider Timico specialise in the provision of IP connectivity, hosting and web solutions, IT services and fixed and mobile voice solutions, for customers ranging from FTSE100 companies to SoHo businesses. Their emphasis is on delivering the highest quality of service – and as independents, they’re free to select the best options in the wholesale marketplace to create exactly the right solutions for their customers.
Timico say their customers know they can rely on them to harness the very latest technological developments on their behalf. This was one of the key drivers behind Timico’s decision to join the trial of WBMC.
This fully managed broadband service is designed to be technology agnostic, being able to carry all variants of Wholesale Broadband Connect (WBC), including fibre, Annex M and Real Time. Another significant capability is its ability to carry BT Wholesale’s 20C broadband portfolio across the same network. It also has the flexibility, scalability and cost efficiency characteristics of all 21CN-based solutions. Timico were already using BT Wholesale’s 20C BT IPstream product to deliver broadband services. And to help them accelerate the transition, they were offered IPstream Connect (IPSC): an aggregated service that supports both 20C and 21C broadband end-users via the simplicity of a single backhaul.
As triallists Timico were able to put WBMC through its paces live, rather than having to try and evaluate its capabilities and potential at arm’s length. Their positive experiences convinced them this was the solution to their market’s pressing demands for more bandwidth – for bandwidth-hungry applications ranging from IP telephony and cloud computing to High Definition TV – as well as higher quality and reliability.
Timico’s CEO Chris Tombs comments: “21C broadband is now our default offering for all new customers – and we aim to migrate 40-50% of existing customers by Summer 2010. That’s helping us win business – and it’s important to our customers too.”
“Many of them have large numbers of homeworkers who depend on fast and efficient broadband” Chris says. “And with WBMC, their people will spend less time sitting at their PCs waiting for things to happen. That extra speed can also be vital as part of a disaster recovery strategy, helping our customers avoid the impact of bad weather and travel problems.”
Trefor Davies, Timico’s Chief Technology Officer, adds: “We’re big on relationships at Timico. And as our partnership with BT Wholesale has grown closer, so has our confidence that they can give us the right quality services. In the trial we’ve had a say in setting WBMC’s Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and it’s critical to us that these are of the highest quality. We’ve been shaping what’s coming too, things like same-day fix, voice traffic prioritisation and Annex M – which will mean we can offer customers the advantage of trading some downstream speed in exchange for more upstream.”
Timico are one of BT Wholesale’s first customers to sign up for WBMC. They are now working together on their customer migration plans in line with the continuing national roll-out of the WBC core network. In January 2010 BT Wholesale announced that WBC and WBMC services are now available from over 730 exchanges, putting it within reach of more than 50% of the UK’s businesses and homes.
And the product family is also growing – again with direct input from Timico. They have been participating in BT’s fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) trials – which resulted in the launch of BT Wholesale’s fibre-based WBC variant in January 2010. This offers downstream speeds of up to 40Mbit/s and upstream rates of up to 10Mbit/s* – and Timico now have a keen eye on its roll-out.
* The maximum speed a line can support subject to the distance from the exchange and other external factors such as interference on the line.