Through the GUI Affinity Scheme, Digiweb will offer 180,000 GUI members the most competitive prices on their home phone, broadband and internet services. In addition, GUI members who switch to Digiweb will get an exclusive €60 discount off their first bill.

“We are delighted to bring this offer to our members through the Affinity Scheme”, said Albert Lee, Hon. Secretary of the Golfing Union of Ireland. “The aim of the Affinity Scheme is to add value to being a member of a GUI affiliated golf club, and we are confident that our agreement with Digiweb will be of immense benefit to our members”.

“Digiweb is very pleased to be selected as the only telecommunications partner for the GUI Affinity Scheme”,  said Fintan Lawler, Director of Sales and Marketing with Digiweb. “This comes with a responsibility to deliver excellent service and value for money. Digiweb is committed to offering real cost savings to GUI members throughout the island of Ireland”.

Digiweb, Ireland’s largest fully Irish-owned independent telecommunications company, is delighted to announce the official launch of a Free Wi-Fi service for visitors and guests in Drogheda town centre.

The initiative was supplied to Drogheda town centre as part of RTE’s Local Heroes programme by Drogheda-based IT services company, Image IT Group, in conjunction with a state-of-the-art wireless infrastructure supplied by Digiweb.

The RTE ‘Local Heroes’ initiative includes collaborations between local SMEs and retailers with the aim of rejuvenating the Drogheda area. Image IT Group and Digiweb have invested in a state-of-the-art wireless infrastructure that will bring Free Wi-Fi to Drogheda’s town centre.

Peter Durnin, Managing Director of Image IT Group, says “We are very excited about bringing this service to Drogheda town centre. It has been a fulfilling experience being part of the Local Heroes initiative, and we are confident that our investment in this project will result in tangible differences to the locality, both in terms of increased footfall and increased trade in the town”.

“We were delighted to be involved in the Local Heroes initiative” said Colm Piercy, Digiweb CEO. “As a fully-owned Irish company with offices in Dundalk, we jumped at the opportunity to give something back to the local community. This initiative will rejuvenate the town centre of Drogheda and we hope it will result in other towns following the example being set here in Co. Louth.”

‘Local Heroes’ is available to watch anytime on RTE Player at http://www.rte.ie/ten/listings/ 18744501_tv_Local_Heroes

Ireland’s leading independent telecoms operator deploys solutions from BTI Systems to replace core network and extend service reach.

Digiweb, Ireland’s leading independent telecom operator, today announced a significant upgrade of its infrastructure, having replaced its Dublin data centre backbone network with packet optical networking solutions from BTI Systems, the networking company that creates high-capacity application-aware service infrastructures for the metro. Digiweb, the largest Irish-owned telecoms operator, provides Carrier Ethernet, MPLS, broadband voice and data services to a network of government, corporate and residential customers throughout Ireland.

Driven by the need for a flexible platform to deliver SDH, TDM and Ethernet-based services, Digiweb selected the BTI Systems 7000 Series, as the multi-service packet optical networking platform, along with the 10-port Multiprotocol Muxponder (10-port MXP) and Dual 10G Multiprotocol Transponder (10G DTPR). Together, these combine WDM capacity and regional reach extension with optical service delivery, integrated Carrier Ethernet switching capabilities and service aggregation for various protocols onto high-capacity wavelengths in one platform.

With dense fibre coverage throughout Dublin, Digiweb now has dedicated fibre channels and wavelength management on one platform, avoiding the capital expenditure that would have been required to augment its fibre network infrastructure, and ensuring available network bandwidth and fibre capacity. The BTI Systems 7000 Series provides convergence of the service layer with the optical and transport layer, simplifying the network, providing scalable wavelength and Ethernet service capacity and giving Digiweb the foundation to build a robust, cost-effective and agile metro services infrastructure.

“We chose BTI Systems because the products are flexible and cost-effective, which are both necessary to help us establish a network that will allow to us scale,” said Alan Weadick, Head of Networks and Voice for Digiweb. “The ability to work alongside the engineering team in-country at BTI Systems’ development centre in Belfast ensured we would meet our goal of ensuring the high-capacity backbone necessary to deliver a broader range of innovative services for our customers. This scalability coupled with our fibre assets gives us the assurance that the network can scale to the terabit level required to serve our customers into the future.”

“This is a key win for BTI Systems, not only because we are replacing competing equipment, but also because it is another example of our ongoing commitment to the European market and our ability to solve network challenges across the region,” said VP of EMEA Sales for BTI Systems, Jim Crum. “Digiweb is our first customer in Ireland, but it has the same challenges network operators face around the globe – dealing with a highly-competitive market and shifting customer demands – so having a network platform like the 7000 Series that can scale without requiring major operational investments is a key building block to a more profitable business.”

The geographic locations of the stations meant they were deemed almost impossible for any operators to provide efficient connectivity. Digiweb’s network flexibility enabled the delivery of cutting-edge bandwidth to the client’s remote locations.

Digiweb’s custom-built, point-to-point broadband connection provides the motorway service areas with a 20Mbps link between the three locations for business-critical applications. Following this, Digiweb built a LAN extension from the northbound stations across to the southbound stations.

The Digiweb solution enables Applegreen to expand beyond just processing card payments. The solution delivers CCTV, internet kiosks, POS operations and stock management communication between both the northbound and southbound stations. This is important for the company in order to offer value-added services that improve customer satisfaction and business operation.

High emphasis on business-efficient technologies

Applegreen places high priority on technologies that improve business efficiency and staff productivity, while also reducing operational costs and improving the customer experience. The high-speed connection adds to the overall customer experience at the service stations.

The motorway service areas offer high-speed refuelling, free parking, plus comprehensive food and recreational areas, all with easy access on and off the motorways.

“Our high-speed connection and secured LAN extension will add considerably to the Applegreen customer experience with faster transactions and better information sharing between branch locations and headquarters, helping increase customer satisfaction and drive sales,” said Fintan Lawler, sales director, Digiweb.

In March of 2010 Digiweb acquired TalkTalk Ireland and since then the companies are completely separate and the Irish customers are serviced and supported by Digiweb from its offices in Dublin and Dundalk. Digiweb discontinued the use of the TalkTalk brand in March of this year. Digiweb is a wholly owned Irish company supporting jobs in the Irish market and is currently growing and creating new employment opportunities.

The service is aimed at those who cannot get access to broadband in certain locations and those relying on 3G or DSL connections.

Using Eutelsat’s new high throughput KA-SAT satellite, the service will offer speeds of up to 10Mbps everywhere in Ireland and Europe. Packages start from €19.95 per month and are installed within a few days of order.

The KA-SAT satellite is the first of its kind in Europe and has a total capacity of more than 70Gbps. Its complete infrastructure, including the satellite and a network of eight gateways across Europe connected to the internet through a fibre backbone ring, will enter service this week.

“We are delighted to expand and enhance our existing broadband services, to offer customers an alternative where DSL and mobile broadband is not up to scratch,” said Declan Campbell, head of operations at Digiweb, at the launch of the service.

“Technology continues to change and satellite broadband is no different, this same technology has over 500,000 broadband subscribers in North America, so we expect it to take off throughout Europe.”

Key points regarding this service:

• New-generation Tooway™ broadband services now available across Europe

• Eutelsat’s KA-Sat High Throughput satellite goes live on 31^st May 2011

• Operated by Eutelsat’s Skylogic affiliate, Tooway™ provides homes with an always-on service delivering speeds of up to 10 Mbps downstream and 4 Mbps upstream.

• The customer equipment comprises a small satellite dish (77 cm) and a sleek modem, which is connected to a PC or Mac via an Ethernet connection.

• The Tooway™ system can also be used for Voice over IP and IPTV. With a dual-feed (Ku-Ka), Direct-to-Home reception of television channels from adjacent broadcast satellites is also possible.

For more information and packages see www.digiweb.ie/tooway

Safefood360 was presented with the award on the evening beating off stiff competition from Azucca, Bytek, DediServe and Unitec. Safefood 360 is a complete online food safety management system for food processing plants. It is designed for those who need to implement and maintain such systems including quality managers, food technologists and consultants.

The ICT Excellence Awards acknowledge and celebrate the high achievers in today’s highly competitive information and communications technology (ICT) sector. Each year the Awards have grown and improved and are now seen as among the major high points of the year for the sector.

One of the key strengths of the awards is the quality of the judging panel. According to Judge Dr Jim Mountjoy from The Science Foundation Ireland ‘we are always looking for trend setters and risk takers, the entrants to these Awards certainly fit that category, the innovation and management skills are breathtaking. The companies who enter are all winners.’

On Tuesday 8th February, Ireland are joining with 65 countries around the world by marking Safer Internet Day 2011. The main objective of Safer Internet Day 2011 is to bring together relevant organisations, in as many countries as possible, to raise awareness about safe and responsible use of internet technologies especially among children and young people.

This year in Ireland parents are being called on to “Get Webwise !– Get Involved!”. Webwise on Facebook has been developed to support parents to start the conversation with their children about what they do online: www.facebook.com/webwise. The Webwise Facebook presence is to help parents to get involved in
what their children are doing online. It contains internet safety parenting videos, interactive games,  advice and tools. Please add your resources to this repository by posting links on the Wall.

For more information on events around the country throughout February visit http://www.webwise.ie

Digiweb Group and eircom have announced a partnership that will enable eircom to resell Digiweb’s Tooway Satellite broadband service across the country. This partnership enables eircom, Ireland’s largest telecommunications provider, to introduce lower cost satellite broadband services countrywide.

The decision to expand eircom’s existing broadband services was as a result of growth in demand for broadband services from home and business users in very remote areas with limited or no internet access. “We are delighted to expand and enhance our broadband services nationwide to offer customers an alternative where DSL and mobile broadband is not available”, says Emer Kennedy, Director of Product Management and Development at eircom. “We selected Digiweb due to the quality and competitiveness of the Tooway product range together with Digiweb’s expertise with satellite technology”.

Commenting on the launch, Declan Campbell, Head of Operations with Digiweb stated “Satellite broadband services provide a high quality internet experience; they are reliable, robust, low cost and offer faster speeds than ever before. Business and consumers are now engaging more with the service as speeds rise and prices continue to fall.”

Digiweb Group offers the Tooway™ service through a distribution agreement with Eutelsat Communications. During the early part of 2011 both Digiweb and eircom will introduce even higher speed broadband services on new Eutelsat’s KA band satellite (KA-SAT), which will offer download speeds of up to 10 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 4 Mbps.

KA-SAT will form the cornerstone of a new European satellite infrastructure which includes eight main satellite gateways located across Europe which are connected to the Internet by a fibre backbone ring. With its total capacity of more than 70 Gbps KA-SAT will rank as the world’s most powerful spacecraft and Europe’s first High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) will usher in a new era of competitively-priced
satellite-delivered services.

This new solution builds on Digiweb’s extensive expertise in hosting and managed services and will provide businesses with a unique approach for adopting cloud based technology at a fraction of the cost of existing platforms on the market. This is achieved through the platforms unique billing approach – all resources are only billed for the hours used, allowing for huge savings with no contracts, minimum usage or ongoing charges. IT capacity may be increased or decreased at a moment’s notice, allowing IT managers efficiently scale for short or variable demands.

Commenting on the new service, Colm Piercy, CEO, Digiweb, said, “With the Digiweb Utility Cloud, Irish business can finally draw on IT resources in a true utility fashion. There’s no upfront fee and no minimum commitment, just hourly rates for the IT resources used.” “Digiweb, he said, has developed its platform after listening to customer feedback about what they really wanted for their IT needs. With financial resources limited in IT departments this solution allows companies to essentially grow as they go and scale up and down with real time demand.”

The Digiweb Utility Cloud Platform eliminates complexity with a single sign-in, easy to use web panel interface and integration API. A key focus has been on the simplicity of use for the busy IT professional. Additionally the solution has been engineered for reliability with enterprise class server and storage hardware from Dell and Cisco. This solution breaks down the cost associated barriers to cloud computing adoption amongst Irish organisations and will revolutionise how the technology is used in the future.

Find out more on the Digiweb Cloud Services website (www.digiweb.ie/cloud)

Download the Digiweb Cloud White Paper