SMART Telecom have been taken over

MassDeb8r

Smart Telecom to Exit Examinership via Investment from Digiweb

Transaction paves way for the creation of the leading independent Irish telecommunications company

Dublin, Ireland, November, 2009 – Smart Telecom announced today that Digiweb, the Irish national telecommunications and managed services provider, intends to acquire the entire customer base and assets of Smart Telecom (‘Smart’) an Irish provider of voice, data and media communications services. The intended investment by Digiweb, which is subject to approval by the Irish Commercial Court, will allow Smart to exit from Examinership and become part of the Digiweb Group. John McStay, of McStay Luby, Examiner for Smart Telecom has confirmed the terms of the Investment from DigiWeb. The proposed combination will create the leading, independent Irish telecommunications company and will significantly enhance the scale and scope of the combined Digiweb-Smart service offering.

Transaction Highlights


Ø Combines Smart’s leading LLU infrastructure and Next Generation IP network with DigiWeb’s leading datacenter and hosting platform and national wireless infrastructure


Ø Total subscriber base of 40,000 residential, 1,000 business, corporate & Government customers and over 12,000 web hosting and data center customers.


Ø Brings together two EBITDA positive businesses with annual revenue approaching €40million and over 150 employees


Ø Consolidates the telecoms market creating a stronger service provider offering a broader range of service to existing and prospective customers.


Ø Smart will become part of the DigiWeb Group, will retain the ‘Smart’ brand and will continue to build on its position as a leading provider of voice, data and media services in Ireland.

Smart entered the Examinership process on August 31st, 2009 in order to restructure its balance sheet and secure a strategic investment. The Investment from DigiWeb, which is subject to Court approval, is expected to be finalized by the beginning of December 2009. The Smart Board of Directors and secured lender group are supporting the transaction.

DigiWeb
DigiWeb is one of Ireland's leading telecoms and internet services providers, offering wireless and fixed broadband services, phone services and web hosting services. DigiWeb operates the largest wireless broadband network in Ireland and is Europe’s second largest Satellite broadband provider.
[Further detail]



Smart Telecom
Smart Telecom is a leading Irish provider of voice, data and media services to residential, government and corporate customers. Smart has a national reach and operates the only ‘Next Generation Network’ (‘NGN’) in the country making it Ireland’s fastest broadband provider.

Smart currently serves approximately 12,000 residential and 500 corporate, government and medium sized business customers throughout Ireland. This transaction will have no impact on the underlying Smart business which will continue to provide high quality services to a growing customer base. Smart remains focused on expanding its best in class NGN providing Ireland’s fastest broadband service.



Colm Piercy, CEO, Digiweb, commented: “We are excited about combining the Smart business with our own service offering to enhance our service capability for our customers. We welcome the Smart employees to our team and, together with them, look forward to growing our combined customer base across each of the residential, corporate and Government sectors of the market.”

NAME, TITLE, Smart Telecom, added concluded “We are delighted to combine our existing business with DigiWeb. The scale of the combined company will allow us to expand our product offering and service capabilities to our existing customer base.”

Spear

Source?

kaimera

Not impressed with digiwebs rolling cap (and their cap to begin with)

Maybe it won't be implemented

Spear

kaimera wrote: »

Not impressed with digiwebs rolling cap (and their cap to begin with)

Maybe it won't be implemented

This was probably one of the worst outcomes. Magnet would have been so much better for the customers and service in general, but Smart turned them down.

Digiweb

Howdy...

I can definately say that our intention is not to change any of the products, which includes adding/changing caps etc, any time soon.

We really think you'll like what's going to come!

Spear

Digiweb wrote: »

Howdy...

I can definately say that our intention is not to change any of the products, which includes adding caps etc, any time soon.

We really think you'll like what's going to come!

You mean altering the current caps rather than adding them, surely?

kaimera

Digiweb wrote: »

Howdy...

I can definately say that our intention is not to change any of the products, which includes adding caps etc, any time soon.

We really think you'll like what's going to come!

hey,

is there a url to an official press release?

Good to hear it won't change

AlmightyCushion

Moved from Comp and Tech.

kippy

I've had digiweb metro for quite some time now (3 years), to be honest I dont know where all this negativity towards Digiweb is coming from.
Very good customer service and support and time I have needed it. The metro service is very good as well and at the time was the only viable option available to me.
From what I can see the cap only effects a very small(but vocal) minority of users who should consider going else where if they use that much traffic.

I had the same experience with IrishBB. Never had any issues with them for the previous 2 years, yet it seemed on these boards they were the worlds worst.
I think you only ever hear the "bad" stories from those who have something to complain about and rarely hear from all those who are happy with their service.

This particular story, I believe is very positve, saving Smart and its infrastructure was required, they obviously didnt have a sustainable business model, so lets hope Digiweb make the most of what is there.

Sponge Bob

Don't see any problem with this TBH !

kaimera

from rte - http://min.ie/2eH

Smart Telecom is set to emerge from court protection after announcing that Irish telecoms group Digiweb planned to take on its customers and assets.

Smart, which went into examinership in August owing around €70m, said the Digiweb investment was subject to approval by its creditors and the High Court.

It said the two companies combined would have 46,500 broadband, data and telephone customers and 48,000 web-hosting and data centre clients. Smart said the deal would create a stronger player in the telecoms market, providing a broader range of services for customers.

Advertisement
Smart will form part of the Digiweb group, but the Smart brand will be retained. Digiweb, founded in 1997, is based in Dublin.

Jumpy

I just left digiweeeeeeb for Smart *cries*

dub45

I just left digiweeeeeeb for Smart *cries*

They went to extraordinary lengths to get your custom back!

Chaz

dub45 wrote: »

They went to extraordinary lengths to get your custom back!

:-)

Chaz

Well done CeePee and gang ...

lawrenceSummer

Digiweb wrote: »

Howdy...

I can definately say that our intention is not to change any of the products, which includes adding/changing caps etc, any time soon.

We really think you'll like what's going to come!

by what magic are you going to turn a loss making company into one that is profitable without changing plans or pricing structures?

the_law

lawrenceSummer wrote: »

by what magic are you going to turn a loss making company into one that is profitable without changing plans or pricing structures?

To the best of my knowledge, Smart had its first profitable quarter earlier this year... It turned a profit, just not enough to service the €70m of debt it is carrying.

The point of this merger is that Digiweb can afford to pay off Smart's debt and in return owns Smart and their customers. There's also economies of scale involved, and I'm sure there are many areas where Smart's infrastructure will help Digiweb and vice versa.

Steffano2002

Digiweb wrote: »

Howdy...

I can definately say that our intention is not to change any of the products, which includes adding/changing caps etc, any time soon.

We really think you'll like what's going to come!

Why not "ever"?

I'm not going to lie to you Mr Digiweb but your name is synonymous of "restriction" and "control".

I, along with many other Smart customers, believe this is the worst that could have happened... I hope time proves me wrong...

lawrenceSummer

the_law wrote: »

To the best of my knowledge, Smart had its first profitable quarter earlier this year... It turned a profit, just not enough to service the €70m of debt it is carrying.

The point of this merger is that Digiweb can afford to pay off Smart's debt and in return owns Smart and their customers. There's also economies of scale involved, and I'm sure there are many areas where Smart's infrastructure will help Digiweb and vice versa.

i get the economies of scale and the sideways integration that will possibly benefit both companies, but the model that smart has isnt profitable as is, and i dont see without increasing prices, or reducing costs where that can happen, will more exchanges and customers solve their problems?

Steffano2002

kippy wrote: »

I've had digiweb metro for quite some time now (3 years), to be honest I dont know where all this negativity towards Digiweb is coming from.
Very good customer service and support and time I have needed it. The metro service is very good as well and at the time was the only viable option available to me.
From what I can see the cap only effects a very small(but vocal) minority of users who should consider going else where if they use that much traffic.

I had the same experience with IrishBB. Never had any issues with them for the previous 2 years, yet it seemed on these boards they were the worlds worst.
I think you only ever hear the "bad" stories from those who have something to complain about and rarely hear from all those who are happy with their service.

This particular story, I believe is very positve, saving Smart and its infrastructure was required, they obviously didnt have a sustainable business model, so lets hope Digiweb make the most of what is there.

You're probably happy with Digiweb (and IBB previously) because your broadband expectations are "low" (for lack of a better term). You can't play online with Metro. You can't download that fast. The connection can be erratic. The download caps unrealistic in this day and age. That's why users complain. Not because "they just like complaining".

But again, I hope I'm worng...

I've been an IBB, Eircom, Magnet, NTL and SMART broadand Customer. Smart and Magnet set the bar pretty high. I don't think Digiweb can follow through here...

bk

the_law wrote: »

To the best of my knowledge, Smart had its first profitable quarter earlier this year... It turned a profit, just not enough to service the €70m of debt it is carrying.

The point of this merger is that Digiweb can afford to pay off Smart's debt and in return owns Smart and their customers. There's also economies of scale involved, and I'm sure there are many areas where Smart's infrastructure will help Digiweb and vice versa.

I would assume that a big condition of the purchase would have been Digiweb convincing Smarts debtors to write down some of their debt.

UPC did exactly this when purchasing Chorus.

Sponge Bob

Make that the main condition BK

bk

Digiweb wrote: »

Howdy...

I can definately say that our intention is not to change any of the products, which includes adding/changing caps etc, any time soon.

We really think you'll like what's going to come!

I have to be honest with you Digiweb, Digiweb will need to work very hard to convince us that you won't destroy Smarts excellent reputation.

Up until recently Smart had a superb reputation, excellent customer support, no cap's, top speeds, low pings, decent prices.

Digiweb's reputation has been for low caps, control and restriction.

Smart only introduced a 170GB cap in the last two months, I and I'm sure many people will assume they did so in preparation for this purchase and perhaps even at the behest of Digiweb.

Digiweb will need to work hard not to lose a lot of Smart customers to Magnet and UPC.

BTW I hope you review Smarts pricing, it isn't particularly competitive any more, particularly against UPC.

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Make that the main condition BK

Yep, actually make it:

I would assume that the main condition of the purchase would have been Digiweb convincing Smarts debtors to write down most of their debt.

Sponge Bob

bk wrote: »

I have to be honest with you Digiweb, Digiweb will need to work very hard to convince us that you won't destroy Smarts excellent reputation.

Up until recently Smart had a superb reputation, excellent customer support, no cap's, top speeds, low pings, decent prices.

Digiweb's reputation has been for low caps, control and restriction.

That is a bit unfair . Digiweb have a reputation for caps whcih has made them unattractive for HEAVY users . Other than that they restricted nothing , torrents flew along at max speed etc .

I would assume that the main condition of the purchase would have been Digiweb convincing Smarts debtors to write down most of their debt.

I'd say the €70m debt is now no more than €15m and the 'purchase' will be the assumption of that reduced debt ...or maybe its clearance over period of no more than 3 years plus 'a consideration'. The examiner will tell the High Court shortly when they apply to come out of examinership .

Marlow

Honestly, I can't see anything wrong in the deal, even though I might have preferred some of the other contenders.

Digiweb might learn something from Smart, Smart might learn something from Digiweb, fact is: Smarts infrastructure is preserved and a lot of the business customers mentioned are actually regional internet providers.

Would Smart have "disappeared", there'd been quite a bit of changes for a large amount of users not directly connected to Smart. And a lot of them not positive.

Digiweb on the other side has very little experience as a carrier, but we'll see how they get on with it.

Best of luck anyhow.

/M

Moriarty

Steffano2002 wrote: »

Why not "ever"?

Just to displease you, obviously.

Steffano2002 wrote: »

I, along with many other Smart customers, believe this is the worst that could have happened....

Then you don't know what you're talking about, since the only other real option would have been your service being disconnected which would be materially worse for all Smart customers.

Steffano2002 wrote: »

You can't play online with Metro.

Metro has lower latency than DSL connections provided by eircom. Are you able to play online with DSL?

Steffano2002 wrote: »

You can't download that fast.

Can you download fast on DSL? Metro packages provide equal or greater bandwidth for the same amount of money compared to DSL.

Steffano2002 wrote: »

The connection can be erratic.

Can a DSL connection be erratic?

Steffano2002 wrote: »

That's why users complain. Not because "they just like complaining".

That's not what the above demonstrates.

bk wrote: »

Smart only introduced a 170GB cap in the last two months, I and I'm sure many people will assume they did so in preparation for this purchase and perhaps even at the behest of Digiweb.

They introduced it well over four months ago. Long before they went into examinership . I think it's fair to say that there might be a connection between them introducing measures like this and Smart having their first ever profitable quarter this past quarter. As has been amply demonstrated, no business will survive if it can't turn a profit.

Wcool

Steffano2002 wrote: »

...
You can't play online with Metro. You can't download that fast. The connection can be erratic. The download caps unrealistic in this day and age. That's why users complain. Not because "they just like complaining".
...

As an ex-customer of Digiweb Metro, having had some bad experience with them, I can't really agree here:
- ping times are excellent with Digiweb (as with most fixed wireless), excellent for gaming.
- the service was rock solid, rarely downtime and rarely even speed loss.
- download speed was more than fine enough for for me, 6Mb and I think now 8mb. Pretty consistently, and you can even get 12mb in a more expensive package.

The main reason I quit Digiweb was the cap, and I suspect it is the most important one for most that quit Digiweb (well maybe price, and service has gone down too in the years, probably because of organisation growing, it seems accounts and support don't know about each other)

But Smart with its own DSL network should hopefully not be affected by caps. If they put caps on the Eircom resell lines, like Digiwebs DSL resell, I think it won't sell to a lot of customers except the ignorant ones.

Will see what the future will bring, I hope this will turn out for the better for everyone, Digiweb, Smart and the customer.

Marlow

bk wrote: »

Smart only introduced a 170GB cap in the last two months, I and I'm sure many people will assume they did so in preparation for this purchase and perhaps even at the behest of Digiweb.

Smart always has had a cap, it was just not a public cap. To my knowledge the cap was introduced because the highest bitstream users were using more than twice as much as the highest LLU users Smart had up to that point.

When a product gets abused in that way and becomes unprofitable, there has to be taken some sort of steps to limit the abuse. I don't agree, that cap's are the way, but every ISP makes their decision.

/M

MunsterCycling

Unless a written promise is issued not to change the pricing structure and the CAP for say two years by Digi(Restrict)Web then it will be contract terminated I'm afraid, pity a good company like Magnet weren't the owners now.

MC

kippy

Steffano2002 wrote: »

You're probably happy with Digiweb (and IBB previously) because your broadband expectations are "low" (for lack of a better term). You can't play online with Metro. You can't download that fast. The connection can be erratic. The download caps unrealistic in this day and age. That's why users complain. Not because "they just like complaining".

But again, I hope I'm worng...

I've been an IBB, Eircom, Magnet, NTL and SMART broadand Customer. Smart and Magnet set the bar pretty high. I don't think Digiweb can follow through here...

To be fair, my expectations are met by the product. I got my product based on my expectations and am happy to pay for that service.
If you have higher expectations then you should be willing to pay more for the service to achieve them.
Digiweb Metro offers me 7 meg down, Circa 1 Meg up, 30 gig download cap,a phone number and relatively cheap calls for circa 30 quid a month.
I am not sure about Magnets state, but you can see from past events that the bar that SMART set was not sustainable, while it may have been high.
I aint saying "people just like complaining". I am saying you often only see the complaints side of it, as people dont generally go around saying how happy they are with their BB product or any product for that matter.

The fact of the matter is, for the VAST majority of people who use Digiweb Metro it is sufficient. If they wanted more, they should be prepared to pay more, and that appears to be the main issue with certain complaints.

I have a Ford Focus, I dont expect it to turn into a Porsche every time I step into it. I didnt pay for a Porsche and I dont expect a Porsche. If I did, I would have stumped up for one.....

kaimera

I had Metro when it launched in limerick; it was a 30gb monthly cap..then it became a rolling cap; pretty unmanageable with 5 people using the line. Wasn't impressed.

Nothing wrong with the metro service per se; couldn't fault it really.

The billing dept tho still send bills to the wrong guy 2 years later even tho we send in a change of account.

We'll wait and see tho; I don't fancy having to change from smart at this stage.