Digital Island Quickest Grower
The Dominion Post, November 2007
Digital Island has been named as New Zealand's fastest-growing telecommunications business in the 2007 Deloitte/Unlimited Fast 50 list.
The company, based in Auckland, has a staff of 20 and offers a range of services, from Internet and PBX systems through to account management and liaising with vendors. It came in sixth on the list of the country's fastest-growing businesses.
The privately owned company has been operating for 3½ years. "We were profitable after the first two years, and now we're reinvesting most of our profits into growth," general manager Blair Stewart says.
Including mobile phone services will be key to completing Digital Island's set of products. It is also looking to compete in the "over-priced" toll-free number market and to work with larger corporates. Its 3000 current clients include Samsung, Wises, Zambesi and Red Bull.
Mr Stewart says challenges include a tight labour market and a degree of uncertainty in the sector due to local loop unbundling and the operational separation of Telecom. But he says the Telecom change will be positive. "It'll bring out more competition and more products. Digital Island is the type of company the Government has been trying to create through regulation."
Digital Island Press Release
Digital Island took out the Fastest Growing Telecommunications business and sixth place overall in the 2007 Deloitte/Unlimited Fast 50. The Fast 50 is an index of New Zealand’s fastest growing companies. Fast 50 entry criteria mean a company must:
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have operating revenues of at least $250,000 in 2004/05 and at least $500,000 in the last financial year
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have been in business for a minimum of three years
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have New Zealand-registered operations
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In addition, all the entries must be verified by an independent source.
“Digital Island is delighted by and very proud of its Fastest Growing Telecommunications business win and sixth place overall,” Company Director and General Manager Blair Stewart said. “Digital Island began operations supplying nation-wide telecommunications services in February 2004. The company had identified a major gap in the business telecommunications market. Essentially for providing customers with the right products, advice, market-leading pricing and personalised service.”
“The key to Digital Island's success is our focus on taking any confusion out of telecommunications and matching this with excellent customer support: from the initial contact through to technical support and easy to understand accounts. We wanted to make it easy for New Zealand businesses to do business. From the start our customers have kept telling us our approach works. We believe it is one of the key reasons why we won Fastest Growing Telco and placed so well in the Fast 50.
“It is also the reason why we’ve recently got a range of well-known businesses like leading electronics supplier Samsung, web search and map sites ‘apnfinda’ and Wises, and fashion house Zambesi on-board. And it is why Red Bull and many others have signed on again after successful, initial contracts with us.
“For Digital Island, our operational priority is ensuring businesses on our books continue receiving the highest level of service, something our competitors often fail to achieve. We say ‘Digital Island is the smart choice for business phones and Internet’ and we’re very pleased to win these two awards in the Fast 50 and receive this recognition from the business community. Digital Island's awards in the Fast 50 are reflections of the quality of our staff, our operations and, most importantly, the success of our customers,” Mr Stewart said.
