Smart Telecom expected to be sold this month

mrquiteaguy · 08-07-2009 9:59am #1

I have just seen this story over at SiliconRepublic.
Apologies if someone else has posted it already.

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/article/13354/business/smart-telecom-expected-to-be-sold-this-month/

I have never heard of the 2 companies interested in buying Smart before.
They seem like small niche Telecom companies to me.
What that means for the future of Smart i dont know.

Onikage · 08-07-2009 10:20am

Don't know Complete Telecom. Planet/plannet 21 sell networking equipment, sound lads and great service. Strange that they would be looking to buy an ISP though.

bk · 08-07-2009 10:24am

Sigh, if true doesn't look like good news for Smart customers (doubly so for those of us on Smart Vision exclusive developments).

I guessed Smart was up for sale, but I was hoping for someone decent like O2 or Sky

watty · 08-07-2009 10:37am

Not big enough or profitable for O2 or Sky.

Your link broken. Smart Telecom to sell for under 15M
They owe nearly €60M.

According to a report in yesterday’s Sunday Times, Complete Telecom and Planet 21 are in talks to buy the company.

Smart is really quite small, limited geographically and loss making.

It will be interesting to see what happens. I had expected consolidation rather than a new player.

Robxxx7 · 08-07-2009 11:31am

PlanNet21 already fund Homevision.ie, front end of 3PlayPlus

http://www.3playplus.ie/about.html

So maybe they are looking to consolidate both business'

Onikage · 08-07-2009 11:35am

Didn't know that. Small country.

TanG411 · 08-07-2009 11:37am

never knew they were making a loss. Been with them for 3 years and nothing ever went wrong. They always had a great service :pac:

Oracle · 08-07-2009 2:22pm

Seems unusual companies to take over Smart. I though O2 would just pick them up for the sake of market share and getting a foothold (albeit small) into the fixed line business. I wonder is this really just an announcement to stir the interest of bigger players who might be interested. If it is genuine it's disappointing, because HomeVision are more expensive for broadband: http://www.homevision.ie/broadband1.aspx and http://www.homevision.ie/bundles1.aspx?cat=2

bk · 08-07-2009 3:26pm

watty wrote: »

Smart is really quite small, limited geographically and loss making.

Well I believe they have LLU'd exchanges which represent 500,000 lines, which is certainly not bad. I would havethought a good starting pointing for any company considering doing LLU in Ireland like O2 and Sky do in the UK.

Robxxx7 wrote: »

PlanNet21 already fund Homevision.ie

So maybe they are looking to consolidate both business'

They have a bad reputation for their IPTV service and their BB is much more expensive, so not good news for Smart Vision customers in particular. Hopefully they will retain the Smart tech staff who are excellent.

mrquiteaguy · 08-07-2009 10:03pm

Thanks watty for fixing my link.

Checking out PlanNet21 aka Homevision's broadband packages,
I am not impressed by their 50GB cap if they are to take over Smart.

Sponge Bob · 08-07-2009 11:19pm

They may reverse Homevision into the larger Smart instead .

watty · 09-07-2009 9:16am

Seeing as the Homevision brand is not doing so good and complaints here about their IPTV.

watty · 09-07-2009 9:18am

bk wrote: »

Hopefully they will retain the Smart tech staff who are excellent.

2/3rds (60 out of 90) Smart Staff are gone according to reports in the papers.

helimachoptor · 09-07-2009 9:30am

watty wrote: »

2/3rds (60 out of 90) Smart Staff are gone according to reports in the papers.

The papers are wrong.

Mountjoy Mugger · 09-07-2009 9:33am

Nothing like clarification.

helimachoptor · 09-07-2009 9:34am

Staff count was reduced from 90-60 in Feb/March so its not exactly recent news.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2009/0217/1224241279770.html

Mountjoy Mugger · 09-07-2009 9:39am

I thought you said the papers are wrong?

helimachoptor · 09-07-2009 9:45am

watty wrote: »

2/3rds (60 out of 90) Smart Staff are gone according to reports in the papers.

Mountjoy Mugger wrote: »

I thought you said the papers are wrong?

Can't you read...
Two thirds of 90 staff is 60.. Whereas 1/3 is 30 which is the correct number...

he said it was likely that “30-40 positions will be made redundant”. The consultation period comes to an end on February 24th at which time the exact number of job losses will become clear.
Smart Telecom currently employs 90 full-time staff but has a significant number of contract staff working through third parties.

Smart Telecom expected to be sold this month

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