bOnline

What is your name and your organisation?

Anthony Karibian, bOnline

What is your role at bOnline?

CEO

How long have you been working for bOnline/been in the industry?

I have been in the telecoms industry since starting up XLN Telecom in 2003.

What is bOnline’s USP/key focus areas?

Our key focus area is to make VoIP simple and affordable for micro & small businesses.

What achievement is bOnline most proud of?

We successfully launched a zero-touch VoIP solution with self-sign-up and self-care capabilities and scaled it to 20,000 businesses within 18 months.

What are the key trends that you are experiencing currently in the market?

Small and micro businesses are becoming increasingly aware of the massive benefits of migrating to digital/VoIP from their legacy copper lines. 

What do you see as the main industry challenges at present?

The full fibre footprint within the small business market is very limited despite the big headlines in the media. Less than 10% of our micro/small business customers currently have access to full fibre connectivity.

If there was one thing in the industry you would change or want to resolve, what would it be?

Number porting. The current process is inefficient and it’s holding back the great digital migration for small businesses.

What opportunities do you foresee for the sector?

The PSTN switch-off will accelerate digital migration within the small business space, allowing service providers to introduce a wide range of new digital add-on services to increase revenue per user.

What benefits do you get out of Comms Council UK membership?

Comms Council UK provides us with an invaluable source of industry knowledge and trends, and also helps navigate regulatory changes and other important matters such as last year’s DDoS attacks.