THE DUNDALK broadband and telecoms provider Digiweb will invest €30 million in the UK market over the next five years, having won two national wireless broadband licences there.
Chief executive Colm Piercy said Digiweb would first build out its network in the North and planned to have a service in eight to 10 of the largest towns and cities by this October.
The company will self-finance the expansion from profits, according to Mr Piercy, and does not have any plans for additional fundraising. In 2005, Digiweb received a €20 million investment from Moritz Holdings.
In 2006, Digiweb made a pretax loss of €3.08 million but the accounts note the company "made significant investments in networks and managed services facilities" that were expected to deliver "multi-year" sales and revenue increases. Mr Piercy said Digiweb would be offering a similar package of broadband and phone services to its Metro product, which is on sale in the Republic and provides speeds of up to 12Mbits/sec without the need for a fixed phoneline. Digiweb is also trailing television delivery models so that it can offer a "triple-play" service, he said.
Digiweb won the 15-year licence to use radio spectrum in the 10 GHz band following an online auction that took place between February 11th and February 21st. According to the UK regulator Ofcom, Digiweb paid a licence fee of £39,000 (€51,748).
In addition to providing consumer services, the licence will enable Digiweb to provide "back-haul" connections to other businesses, including mobile operators. "Offering back-haul to 3G base stations will be an important part of the mix as usage of 3G drives up and they need extra capacity rapidly," said Mr Piercy.
Although Digiweb built its own network in the Republic, Mr Piercy said it would rely on partners to help with its UK expansion.
It is not the first move overseas by Digiweb. The company has licences in Norway and Iceland and "spectrum rights" in Finland and Sweden. Mr Piercy said the company plans to offer a Wimax-based broadband service in Iceland "before summer". but it has plans for a "more substantial" network in Norway, with commercial services due to launch in the second quarter of 2009.
In total, the UK auction of spectrum raised £1.43 million. Other successful bidders included T-Mobile, BT, Arqiva and Orange.
Wholly Irish-owned Digiweb employs 155 staff in Dublin, Dundalk, Waterford and Limerick. Mr Piercy is the largest shareholder in the company, holding shares in his own name and through Dileus Nominees and Dileus Investments, which he controls.
