A startup tech company from Manchester working to redefine connectivity.
Launched in 2014 and bootstrapped from the ground up, Telcom is an ISP born lean and with a vision to reimagine and redefine what it means to be an internet provider.
Growing up in the heart of Manchester’s tech ecosystem, we come from and are embedded within a culture of fast moving, convention breaking startup companies.
Our team understand how essential connectivity can be to the way we all work and live, and take the responsibility of managing it seriously. Through thoughtful engineering, scalable business choices, an emphasis on great design and a deep understanding of modern connectivity technology, we are building a company worthy of the trust our customers place in us every day.
This is our story so far:
May
Our journey begins with a question: ‘Where is the best place to base a tech startup in the UK?’. To answer this, Doug Ward and Shaun Gibson embarked upon a tour of 19 UK’s tech clusters, with a mission to map out the UK. It took them over 18 weeks of Megabuses and couch surfing to interview some of the best people from each community and discover what each startup community had to offer.
September
TechBritain.com, the first comprehensive online map of the United Kingdom’s tech ecosystem launches, brimming with findings, startups, some questionable-quality videos and a lot of stories.
Alistair Adams (Ali) joins the Tech Britain team to help design and build the platform.
November
Returning to Manchester with a belief in the city’s potential, Doug and Shaun realised the city was in real need of a unifying hub around which startups could congregate. They resolved to build a new hub which eventually evolved into SpaceportX.
March
Very Quickly we found ourselves sat down in HM Treasury sharing our experiences with the Cabinet Office and being asked if we would assist in community outreach.
Tech Britain were invited to take part in the inaugural UK Business and Cluster Summit held at Number 10 Downing Street and hosted by Joanna Shields, CEO of Tech City Investment Organisation.
Thom Seddon joins the TechBritain team after meeting Ali and Shaun at a hackathon (Startup Weekend, Manchester).
July
At the 2nd meeting of the UK Business and Cluster Summit group, Tech Britain were invited to present to HRH Prince Andrew at Buckingham Palace.
Given the opportunity to share their vision for the future of Tech Britain we won not only the support of the Cluster Summit delegation but HRH as well.
November
Inspired by the vision for Tech Britain, the government commissions the first Tech Nation Report in 2015, its intention to be the first comprehensive analysis of the UK’s Digital Tech Economy. The Tech Britain team are invited to advise on the reports creation.
February
Given insight from Tech Britain’s work as advisors to government, Shaun, Thom and Ali found Telcom to help plug the growing connectivity gap and ensure Britain has the digital infrastructure it needs and deserves.
May
Telcom appointed as managed services partner for Spinningfields and Old Granada Studios involving management of both fibre networks and WiFi. In addition appointed as preferred supplier for both estates.
August
On the back of growing demand for services from the tech community, Telcom launches a wireless network spanning all of Manchester City Centre.
October
Launched the UK’s first free superfast public WiFi network in Manchester’s Northern Quarter as a part of the ‘Telcom Unity’ program created to help support worthy organisations and the community.
January
Commended for our transparent pricing and flexible approach, Telcom is recognised as a key partner for the government's BDUK voucher scheme.
March
The founding team behind Telcom awarded £4 million by central government in the 2015 spring budget for the establishment of a tech campus in Manchester City Centre.
May
Telcom gets it’s ASN number, becoming AS31631
July
We begin peering and achieve the status of a fully fledged ISP.
August
On the back of success in Manchester and growing request for service across the North, Telcom launches its second city network with the activation of Leeds Dock.
September
Launch of Telcom Voice for commercial and residential customer's.
October
Telcom agrees to support Glasgow’s first tech coworking space ‘Rookie Oven’ by providing free access to one of the fastest connections in the city. In addition launches Telcom Unity in Govan to assist local businesses access previously unavailable services.
November
Launch of Telcom Partner our reseller platform. Very quick signup a number of IT companies and VoIP providers keen to resell our services to their customer base.
December
Watson is born. An indispensible member of the team, Watson, our intelligent CRM & billing platform helps us deliver great customer service to our end customers and partners.
January
Win’s the NYC Mayor’s Office Call for Innovation. Telcom beats over 100 submissions from around the world to become the first UK based ISP to be invited to provide services across New York City.
March
As a result of demand from customers for Telcom to be more than just their ISP, Telcom Care is launched for existing customer's.
August
Telcom Temporary Internet takes off with Cirque Du Soleil amongst the first to sign up for closed beta testing of our new pop up internet solution.
