Opencity Media team strengthened to give consumers more service provider choice
Thursday, 26 August 2010
Former CEO of BT Broadcast Services appointed to head Opencity
Media
Fibre optic specialist, i3 Group has today announced the
appointment of the former CEO of BT Broadcast Services, Mark Smith,
as CEO of Group company, Opencity Media Ltd.
Opencity Media was founded in 2009 to provide support to service
and content providers looking to use the Group's Fibrecity
networks. These open access fibre to the home networks, capable of
100Mbps, are being rolled out across the UK and by 2014 there will
be more than one million homes connected.
Of his appointment, Mark Smith said: "I have followed the
progress of i3 Group for a while now, and am utterly impressed by
the way it has turned the service provider model on its head. For
too long, the market has been dominated by a few players which have
restricted consumer choice."
Service and content providers market their services on the
Fibrecity network via the Fibrecity Open Access Gateway. This
Gateway also serves as a shop window for Fibrecity households who
can pick and choose the services they need. As this is a true fibre
to the home network, consumers can rely on a connection that can
support multiple bandwidth-hungry services at the same time.
Smith continues: "My main objective will be to build on the
platform that has been created, and working with the Opencity Media
team, introduce more service and content providers on to the
Fibrecity Open Access Gateway."
Smith has an outstanding track record in the telecommunications
and media industry. In addition to a long career that incorporated
many senior global positions at BT, Mark has also served on the
main boards of Eutelsat and LG Telecom. He most recently served as
CEO of NXVision, a fast-growing provider of set-top box
applications.
Elfed Thomas, CEO of the i3 Group said: "I am delighted that
Mark will be heading our Opencity Media operations. This company is
crucial to the success of the Fibrecity Open Access Gateway, and
Mark will play a key role in the Fibrecity strategy moving
forward."
Fibrecity Holdings is building the largest commercially viable
fibre to the home network across the UK without the use of the
public purse. The Fibrecity network supports 100Mbps symmetrical
(same upload and download speeds) with 1Gbps boost. i3 Group has
recently announced a partnership with Fujitsu Telecommunications as
it will be supporting the national delivery of the Group's fibre
optic networks.
For further information, please contact:
Pippa Davies
Insight Marketing & Communications
Tel: 0151 244 5466
i3@insightmkt.com
About i3 Asia-Pacific
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