SMS, Wi-Fi and VoIP companies
Skip contentSubject: Companies in SMS, wireless networks, and VOIP
From: Hopeton P
Date: February 15, 2005
Can you tell me where I can get a telephone directory of all the mobile communication company’s in the UK please?
Regards,
Hopeton
Reply:
Hi Hopeton,
I’m not completely sure what it is that you are seeking. Are you talking about just the network operators in the UK? If that is the case then you could try the GSM World website that shows the main operators. See it at the address: http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/cou_gb.shtml
If you are seeking details of all those companies that have any interest in mobile phones, then that is a more difficult matter. I am not sure there is any complete list of these companies. However, I wanted to offer you the best answer I could, and so I did a bit of research.
The Thomson business directory has a good listing of all the companies in the UK. See its Home page at: http://www.thomson-directories.co.uk/
You will see that one of this organisation’s products is its Business Search Pro service, which is available online. Check it out at: http://www.businesssearch.co.uk/
When you are on this page, select “Click to begin searching the database”, and you will get a search page.
Then, enter in the “type of business” box the term “mobile phone” as the only search criteria, and then press “Search”. I got 4511 companies found. Press “Hitlist” and it will list some of the first entries.
However, to see all the companies you will need to register as a user (I guess this means you will need to pay for the service?). After all, that is what Thomson is in business for.
I then tried Yellow Pages at: http://www.yell.com/ucs/HomePageAction.do
If you click on “Categories” then “Media and Communications”, this takes you to a window where you can select “Mobile Phones & Accessories”.
Hit “Search” without putting in any location, and you then get a listing of companies. This appears to be a free listing of information. However, you will probably have to search on other categories to ensure you have picked up all the phone companies that interest you. You could try their A-Z listing to select the categories that interest you.
You might also take a look at the Ofcom site: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/
I’m not sure how easy it will be to find what you are looking for there, but it might be worth contacting them, as they may be aware of more information or company listings than we have found.
I hope I have been of some help to you, but please write again if you think we can help you further.
Regards,
Mike S
Technical Consultant
From Hopeton P:
Mike
Thank you for getting back to me, I really appreciate it. I’m looking for companies to target in the mobile communications industry dealing with SMS and wireless networks, and VOip. Once again any help would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Hopeton
Reply:
Hi again Hopeton,
I guess the information you are seeking may require a bit hunting for, as I expect the companies who specialise in the fields that interest you may do lots of other things as well.
You could try going to Companies House, who keep details of all registered companies. After all, you wouldn’t want to deal with a company that wasn’t registered would you? If you go to: http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/
You will see under “Information & guidance on” there is an entry “Principal Business Activities”. This gives you a list of categories that you might find will narrow down the list. I’m not sure how much it would cost to get a listing from Companies House, but as I remember their charges were not very high when I got some information from them a few years ago.
Another possible source are Databases that various organisations keep for trade or other reasons. It could take some time trying to track down who might have assembled a database with the information you need. Some years ago I needed to do a survey of electronics companies, and my employer’s technical library managed to get quite a lot of information from databases over some Internet link (sorry I can’t remember which databases they used now). Perhaps you could ask at a main library, or one of the specialist technical libraries, to see what databases you can access (this may also be one of the cheapest ways of getting the information).
As you can see below, some companies are in business to make money out of this type of search, so don’t spend money if you don’t need to: http://www.mailing.ision.co.uk/
What about the Yellow Pages I mentioned before? If you go to: http://www.yell.com/ucs/HomePageAction.do
Put “telecommunication” into the “Search for” box and press “search”
You get a list of types of business, and I chose “Telecommunication Equipment”. The very first entry I came to was this (see “VOIP” mentioned):
Abbey Phone Systems
Website Abbey House, Birchwood Boulevard Business Park, Birchwood,
Warrington, Cheshire WA3 7QZ
Tel: 0161 480 0501
Classification: Telecommunication Equipment
Business Telephone Systems. • Voice & Date Networking. • No Obligation
Consultation. • IP & VOIP Solutions. • Excellent Rates. • Telephone
Systems Maintenance
I’m not saying it is easy, but what I would do (if I was you) is to perform all the searches I could on all the Yellow Pages terms that have anything to do with the industries that interest you, and copy and paste all the entries into (say) a Word document. Then use Word’s “Find” tool to locate all the companies that contain business terms like those you mentioned (then you can delete the rest).
I think that’s about all I can suggest, but I wish you luck, and remember that you just need to be methodical and think outside the box a little, and you will find some way of getting what you want from all the mountains of data out there!
Regards,
Mike S
Technical Consultant
From Hopeton P:
Mike
Thanks again for your help. That’s fantastic.
Regards
Hopeton
Reply:
Thanks for your kind words Hopeton. We are glad that we could be of service to you. Let us know if we can help you again in the future.
Regards,
Mike S
Technical Consultant
