From the canals to Shanghai

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01 August 2007

Leader interview: David Rowe of Easynet. What did Rupert Murdoch want with a telecoms operator that ran its fibres along Britain's canals? But since the deal Easynet has found itself at the heart of a huge broadband offer and able to compete for large enterprise business, says CEO David Rowe, and now it's building network to China

David Rowe: routes to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou It's very unusual that acquisitions turn out the way they're planned, says David Rowe, CEO of European telecoms operator Easynet. The acquisition he has in mind is by British Sky Broadcasting, the satellite network controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, at the end of 2005. At the time the talk was that BSkyB wanted Easynet's extensive UK consumer network, but not its pan-European enterprise network. It needed the UK so that it could add IPTV and other broadband-based services to its satellite package, to compete against BT and the cable people. But many thought Sky would aim to sell the side of Easynet that sells to enterprises across Europe. In fact, observers were wrong. The new owner has invested; and the security of a big shareholder seems to have brought in business. "I'm pleased to say that there's been an excellent fit," says Rowe, who has been with...

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