Commercis Plc Appoints Steve Tunnicliffe as Board Member in Advisory Capacity to Drive Business Growth and Success

Commercis Plc, the parent company of Talia, DataGrid Network and Quika, and a leading provider of connectivity and technology solutions today announced the appointment of Steve Tunnicliffe as a Board Member. Steve will assume an advisory role and will work closely with the management team, providing strategic insights and management skills to optimise operations, foster innovation, and capitalise on emerging opportunities.

As a highly accomplished professional with over 30 years in the telecommunications, satellite, and broadcast industries, Steve has a remarkable history of driving business success and shaping effective strategies. Until recently, Steve served as the Senior Vice President, Global Sales for ST Engineering iDirect, a leading satellite ground segment technology provider. In addition, Steve held positions on several boards of directors. Throughout his 16-year tenure at iDirect, he occupied various executive and senior leadership roles. His commitment to putting customers first with compelling propositions is deeply ingrained in his approach.

Before joining iDirect, Steve worked for BT Global Services and the former satellite division of Deutsche Telekom (Plenexis), delivering innovative connectivity solutions in complex environments within defence, government, maritime, aviation, telecom, and enterprise markets. Steve is widely respected and trusted by both customers and partners alike.

In his advisory role, Steve will collaborate closely with Commercis's leadership team to shape and execute strategies that drive growth, enhance operational efficiency, and maximize opportunities for success. His vision aligns seamlessly with Commercis's commitment to innovation, customer satisfaction, and sustainable business practices.

Alan Afrasiab, Chairman at Commercis Plc, expressed enthusiasm about the appointment, stating, "We are thrilled to welcome Steve to our team. His wealth of knowledge and strategic acumen will undoubtedly contribute significantly to our growth trajectory and overall success. The board and management are excited about the energy and expertise he brings to the company, and we look forward to achieving new milestones together.”

Steve Tunnicliffe added, "It is a pleasure to join the Board of Directors at Commercis Plc. I have historically worked closely with Alan Afrasiab and the executive team in providing technology solutions to support the attainment of their business goals. In my new role as a Non-Executive Director, I look forward to working with the board and management team in an advisory capacity to support the attainment of Commercis’s growth aspirations and business objectives."

This appointment aligns with Commercis's commitment to assembling an accomplished board to guide the company toward continued growth, innovation and excellence.

Commercis Plc Appoints New Board Member

Commercis Plc, the parent company of Talia, DataGrid Network and Quika, and a leading provider of connectivity and technology solutions today announced the appointment of Renato Goodfellow as a Board Member.

Renato brings over 40 years of experience in the telecommunication and connectivity industry harnessed at BT. Having spent most of his career in his chosen field, he is a true expert and has amassed a considerable amount of knowledge and experience that is unparalleled; gained in a number of industry sectors including satellite operator ownership, energy & mining, maritime, government, defence, telecoms, and more.

Until recently, he has held the position of the Head of Network Services Satellite role at BT Global Services. Prior to that, he held a wide range of positions and has been involved in some of the most prestigious projects across the globe from network planning, TV, product management, strategy, partnerships management and acquisitions.

"We are delighted to welcome Renato to Commercis Plc," said Alan Afrasiab, Chairman & President of Commercis Plc. "With over four decades of experience in the technology and telecommunications industry, Renato brings with him a wealth of knowledge and expertise in product, joint-ventures, acquisitions, and innovation. We are confident that Renato will provide invaluable insights and guidance to our team as we continue to grow our business and expand our reach into new markets. We are thrilled to have him join our Board and look forward to a productive partnership."

Renato Goodfellow said, "I am honoured to become a member of the Board of Directors at Commercis Plc. I have long admired the company’s commitment to innovation and its focus on customer satisfaction. I look forward to working with the board and management team to help the group of Commercis Plc achieve its long-term goals."

Announcement of the Appointment of Stewart Phillips and Floyd Turner

Talia is pleased to announce two new key appointments to its Global Service Delivery, with Stewart Phillips serving as VP of Global Project Service Delivery Director and Floyd Turner as VP of Global Service Delivery Operations & Customer Assurance.

Talia has always held a reputation for the highest service delivery standards, and these recent appointments further underpin that priority. With an increasing number of international projects being undertaken, the organisation’s structure will continue to support that growth, ensuring projects are delivered to the same exacting values that Talia has always stood for.

With a solid foundation and growing team, Service Delivery is now available to support Talia’s partners, providing an accountable and reliable service with complete transparency to the standard you expect from Talia.

Stewart has been with Talia for over four years. His new role will enable him to manage each project from conception to commercials, design, implementation, and project delivery to go live, after which Floyd’s team undertakes ongoing support and maintenance.

Stewart brings a wealth of technical and commercial experience, which he has honed through his management positions over the past four decades. He is a renowned expert who has served in various industries, including military, energy, and satellite communications.

At Talia, Floyd will lead teams responsible for ongoing service provision and maintenance, service partner management, quality management, and the Network Operations Centre (NOC).

Before joining Talia, Floyd held numerous customer relations and business operations roles. He has over 30 years of experience across various industries and companies, from startups to Fortune 500 companies across diverse markets and complex operational environments, including 15 years in satellite services. Floyd has been part of many innovative technology developments, service deployments, and implementation of customer management solutions.

“It is a pleasure working with Stewart and Floyd. The impact both are making is already visible and recognised by our customers,” said Alan Afrasiab, President & CEO of Talia. “Both bring extensive experience in operations, implementation, integration, and customer relationship, which will be highly valuable across the entire array of services we offer.”

Commercis Acquires Independent Teleport Operator Onlime

Data Grid Network GmbH, a subsidiary of Commercis Plc, has today announced the acquisition of a majority shareholding in the independent teleport operator Onlime GmbH and its TechnoPark facility near Hannover in Germany. Onlime GmbH provides critical connectivity for national and international clients with access to 200+ geostationary satellites giving worldwide coverage. Access to these satellites is crucial to support enterprise, government, military, oil & gas, mining, banking, NGO and many other client’s groups.

The freehold facility near Hannover, built by Deutsche Telekom in 1987, is one of the largest in Europe and is extensively connected to the world's fibre networks. With almost 3,000 sqm of buildings, including a substantial Data Centre, Network Operations Centre, and Technical Labs, the TechnoPark will provide Commercis Communications with a secure and central hub enabling further global expansions.

Commercis, a teleport operator since 2009 and the first certified by the World Teleport Association (WTA) in 2019, has been exploring opportunities for larger and robust premises to continue its ambitious development objectives. Investing in Onlime's business, facilities, and it’s existing clients gives Commercis an edge in its offering.

Chairman of Commercis Plc, Alan Afrasiab, stated: "the acquisition of Onlime GmbH and its facility has come at precisely the right time. With the staff of two teleports coming together, we will have more resources to ensure we can deliver on our plans for continued growth in both GEO and LEO sectors. The larger premises will help facilitate plans for a Green Data Centre, which we will be keen to begin development on soon".

Chief Executive Officer of Onlime GmbH, Paul Ziegler, added: " The team at the Onlime teleport is delighted to become part of the Commercis Group of companies, organisations that share our vision and values. Combining our award-winning Teleport and Data Centre with Commercis' leading services and solutions means clients will benefit from greater international connectivity, support and a global presence with Commercis' offices worldwide".

Commercis, ABS, and ST Engineering iDirect join forces to bring major connectivity expansion across four continents

Commercis Communications, a Commercis Plc company, has partnered with satellite operator ABS, and satellite hardware manufacturer ST Engineering, to expand robust connectivity across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The collaboration will enhance services across these regions, enabling Commercis to offer flexible services and to speed up time to market with the delivery of essential communications to remote areas. Commercis will extend an array of applications to customers that will meet the demands of enterprises, Energy companies and NGOs.

The new ABS-2 C-band satellite link will be operated through a dedicated antenna at Commercis's Teleport in Germany and will offer high reliability, redundancy, and interconnectivity through our MPLS network across the world.

“The collaboration with Commercis Communications and ST Engineering shows our commitment to meet the growing demand of connectivity across these key markets. Our vast global beam coverage will support Commercis's broadband services across four continents,” said Paolo Pusterla, MD of EMEA, ABS. “ABS satellites’ footprints in C and Ku bands are wide and allow long-distance connections which is ideal for large networks and international liaisons. With advanced solutions on the ground such as ST Engineering’s iDirect, bandwidth is optimised and cost-effective for prime and backup services. Notably, ABS service offerings are perfectly suited to Virtual Network Operators and global providers such as Commercis.”

Broadband connectivity and access to technology can propel the social and economic development of nations and provide huge benefits. Currently, however, approximately 35 per cent of underdeveloped countries are connected to the Internet, compared to around 80 per cent in advanced economies. Commercis is focused on providing service to these underserved markets with affordable connectivity. Through collaborative partnerships like this one where leading enterprise combine their strengths to deliver world-class services, greater changes can be made towards a better future.

Commercis enhances connectivity throughout the Middle East

As a growing global communications service provider, Data Grid Network (DGN), a a Commercis Plc company, has recently completed a significant enhancement to its network in Jordan.

Using an IP node that has been strategically located at the shores of Aqaba in the Aqaba Digital Hub (ADH), DGN has expanded connectivity throughout the entire Middle East and Gulf region to provide industry-leading connectivity using a rapid, extensive, and robust connectivity service. Additionally, this hub comprises of a profusion of services ranging from hyperscale datacentres to cable landing stations and teleports. This has helped the Middle East gain a neutral set up with an open policy, which was crucial for the growth of the region.

Chairman of Commercis Plc, Alan Afrasiab stated that “Aqaba has become a critical hub for our telecoms business to continue to provide exceptional and innovative communication services in the Middle East.”

The growing demand for international wholesale and business consumers required DGN to provide access to resilient and automated Tier 1 networks, through the new point of presence (PoP), located in the ADH carrier-neutral data centre. DGNs new network system carries Layer 2 and Layer 3 connections to data centres around the globe while utilising their Tier 1 MPLS network. The MPLS network ensures an uninterrupted and sufficient connection between the Layers and their functions, which allows for network quality of service. Moreover, while improving network experiences through lower latency and higher accessibility of assured data, data transfers are now able to go through a highly secure program when travelling around the world. Additionally, as a high-performance device for network routing, Layer 3 connectivity allows for infinite growth.

To ensure high-quality services in regions where they operate, DGN offers connectivity through multiple borders to Iraq, Egypt and across Europe. This allows for redundancy if one path experiences interruption and minimize any prevention of communication within country. This came as an advantage for DGN, as the Middle East has become the new hub for cloud service providers like Microsoft, Azure, AWS, and Oracle all launching their data centres throughout the area in the past year. DGNs intensive networking systems directly associate themselves to large cloud platforms, allowing for businesses to easily connect to the cloud directly in the Middle East.

DGN is a continually growing digital eco-system consisting of cloud, data centre, SaaS carriers and company partners, in which carriers can have direct communication to four hundred data centres around the world.

Commercis Introduces Local Broadband Service

Quika a Commercis Plc company has announced the launch of Quicknet, a new wireless broadband service. Quika has provided sustainable, quality services across various continents and Quicknet aims to do the same on a local scale, starting in Iraq. Differing from other broadband services on the market, Quicknet seeks to build a community with their customers, providing them with various benefits when subscribing to one of the tailored packages.

While being a broadband provider, Quicknet will be content-driven. Moreover, its users will not only experience high-speed connectivity but will be able to enjoy unique features available on the system. Ranging from educational resources to entertainment opportunities features not found on average broadband services in the Middle East.

Following Quika’s brand value of connecting the unconnected and surmounting the digital divide, Quicknet aims to be accessible and affordable to all consumers, including those who currently have little to no connectivity.

Quicknet provides a variety of service levels from occasional use to active business users.

Commercis to Install a New Power Substation and Distribution System for Oil & Gas Facility

Commercis Energy, a leading renewable energy technology company, has successfully completed a modular power substation for a large oil producer in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Thanks to the team’s technical and commercial expertise, Commercis won a highly competitive bid to design, install and commission the new facility, replacing an ageing temporary power generation system.

While experiencing issues with its existing power generation systems, resulting in increased upkeep and the potential of major disruptive threats, our client was seeking a reliable control and protection switchgear solution. Prioritizing peace of mind in terms of security and longevity, as well as easy maintenance, Commercis was able to deliver over and above the client’s initial requirement.

Offering containerized control and protection modules for the 10 MW substation, Commercis was able to provide the Iraqi oil and gas facility with tangible benefits. In addition to reducing the need for frequent maintenance, Commerics' services were also able to protect equipment from external elements and access control to authorized personnel. Thus, increasing service and security reliability throughout the system.

Chief Operating Officer of the renewable energy company, Oneil Fernandez, commented on the positive relationship and experience the company had with its client, stating: “Everyone really pulled together from day one, which was crucial to the success of this project. Although we did encounter obstacles during the installation and commissioning phase (including the worldwide pandemic,) we were able to overcome any potential stumbling blocks by remaining open, honest and flexible in our approach, and by collaborating extensively with everybody involved in the project to reach satisfactory conclusions.”

Commercis' involvement in this project allowed our client to see vast automation and security improvements due to the advanced features it provides. In the future, Commercis aims to create long-term, sustainable solutions tailored to our client's needs to ensure better running systems throughout the workplace.

Commercis Announces Interconnection Service to AWS, Azure, Facebook and Google Cloud

Data Grid Network, a Commercis Plc company has today announced enhancements to its core network, adding interconnects to Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Facebook and Google.

Talia's ongoing commitment to the stability and reliability of its core network means clients can benefit from faster speeds and easier access to online services wherever they may be.

Enno Wattenberg, SVP Technology & Special Products commented, "by improving connectivity with leading cloud providers, we are reducing latency at the core of our network and ensuring clients are only ever 'one-hop' away, anywhere in the world".

Alan Afrasiab, President and CEO of Commercis added; "our status as one of the global connectivity providers is further enhanced today with the addition of these interconnects and provides benefits to many of our international customers allowing them to connect to multiple clouds, securely, reliably and seamlessly, allowing access to a global ecosystem of technology partners and applications.

Commercis adds Ka-band spot beam covering the Levant Region

Commercis, a leading communications solutions provider serving the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas, today announced its further collaboration with Arabsat, acquiring an additional Ka-band spot beam with coverage across the Levant region.

The new agreement adds an additional Ka-band spot beam on Arabsat 5C at 20°E to Commercis's existing beams in Iraq and Afghanistan and shows the increasing demand for High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) services across the region.

The latest coverage also takes advantage of Commercis's interconnectivity at Jordan Media City, allowing further onward connectivity to Commercis's global MPLS fibre network and onward to Frankfurt, London, Dubai and Washington.

Further, the Levant spot Ka-band beam provides interconnectivity within the footprint bypassing the hub and allowing point-to-point or point-to-multipoint connections enabling lower transmission costs and smaller antennas.

Commercis, who was this year shortlisted for the WTA Independent Teleport Operator of the Year continue to strengthen their varied communication solutions. Alan Afrasiab, President and CEO of Commercis stated, "with all the uncertainty in the world at the moment, we have seen sustained and increasing demand for our service to help provide support and resilience to existing networks or extend the reach of a more dispersed workforce. By partnering with a leading operator such as Arabsat, we can deliver our commitment to our clients in the region".

“We are delighted to extend our partnership with Commercis as a leading teleport, satellite and terrestrial network operator with extensive experience of the Middle East and Africa markets”, says Khalid Balkheyour, President and CEO, Arabsat. “The demand for connectivity in this region has seen a continuous growth and this agreement will further cement our partner's confidence in Arabsat to provide high-quality and reliable services to unconnected communities across the MENA market”, continues Balkheyour.

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