Nextgenaccess (NGA), the UK wholesale provider of full fibre broadband, has appointed industry veteran Bob Falconer as a non-executive director to help drive its growth. The company provides full-fibre services to businesses and the public sector, delivered through third party sales channels including telecom resellers, network installers and operators.
Falconer led Gamma Telecom for 15 years from the position of a start-up wholesale voice provider in 2003 to a substantial player in the UK B2B telecoms sector. In 2014 he oversaw a successful IPO of the business on AIM, with the firm eventually achieving a market capitalisation of £700m last year, before he left.
“This is a very exciting time to keep involved in the telecoms industry,” said Falconer. “The reality of fibre to the premises and 5G is driving unprecedented change and with this Nextgenaccess has a compelling and differentiated full fibre offering. An integral part of this is the forging of strong mutually profitable relationships with channel partners.”
Mark Weller, managing director of Nextgenaccess, said: “Having Bob Falconer on board is a major coup for Nextgenaccess. He is highly regarded throughout the industry, a channel champion and well-versed in turning the full fibre regulatory landscape to advantage.
“Being able to call on Bob’s high calibre expertise and guidance will undoubtedly sharpen our competitive edge as we look to accelerate growth and take the business to the next level.”
Nextgenaccess recently secured a £22m investment from the National Digital Infrastructure Fund (NDIF) to develop its UK 10Gb fibre network. NDIF, a commercial fund established in 2017 by Amber Infrastructure Group, acquired a significant minority shareholding in NGA.
Prior to Gamma Telecom, Falconer was a director at Racal Telecom for eight years where he played a key role in developing and selling the business to Global Crossing for £1bn in 1999. Previous positions have included global telecoms manager at ICI, and working in R&D at BT's Research Centre.
