BNS Telecom Group has had a hyperactive Spring. It has acquired the Birmingham-based business mobile specialists 3g Comms and its sister company 3g Landline Limited for a total of £4.8m in cash; 3g is a Vodafone service provider specialising in mobile voice and data for SMEs, and it brings another 13,000 customers into the BNS fold.
Garry Moat, BNS chief executive, expects that the acquisition of 3g will be “earnings enhancing” and said “3g’s strong reputation in the Birmingham area will provide cross-selling opportunities for the BNS fixed line business”.
BNS itself has just won a new long term service provider contract from Vodafone. The contract, which runs to the end of 2009, will allow BNS to offer a broader range of mobile tariffs.
And BNS has launched an interesting ‘VoIP on your mobile’ product under the name WiDial. BNS already operates one of the UK’s largest VoIP networks; WiDial features half a dozen Nokia handsets and a couple of PDAs, offers WiFi access via 16,700 UK hotspots and 60,000 worldwide, and charges calls at 3.95p per minute for the UK, 4.05p per minute for Europe and the States. More about WiDial in this month’s feature.
On top of that, BNS has just reported pretty impressive six-month interims, with turnover up 38% at £15.8m and underlying operating profits more than trebled to £689,000.