Connectivity expert Paul Coffey has joined the ranks of a growing Scottish network company.
The former chief executive of The Scotland 5G Centre has been named chief technology officer at Clarus Networks.
It comes during a period of significant growth of the company, which has almost tripled its revenue over the last year and doubled its number of employees.
It is hoped Coffey’s appointment will allow Clarus to expand its portfolio, supporting enterprises to understand which technology option is best suited to achieve their goals
The Bathgate-based firm says its significant rise in sales figures was bolstered when is became one of only a handful of authorised resellers of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink last year.
Starlink is a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite system providing high-speed, low-latency broadband internet services. Since SpaceX first launched Starlink satellites in 2019, their connection service has tripled the number of customers to 1.5 million in less than a year, covering over 50 countries.
Clarus uses Starlink and other wireless connection technologies, like mobile private networks, to bring secure fast connectivity to businesses anywhere, no matter how remote, supporting clients working in energy, construction, healthcare, retail, transport and maritime.
Clarus currently has over 500 global enterprise Starlink deployments, with clients across Europe, Africa, North America, and South America.
Overall spend on mobile private network infrastructure is growing rapidly at 20 per cent year-on-year across vertical industries.
Combined with LEO satellite connectivity, wireless technology is enabling organisations to become more productive and efficient, regardless of their location.
Coffey has extensive experience as a business leader and wireless connectivity specialist.
In addition to his role at The Scotland 5G Centre, a national centre dedicated to the uptake of advanced connectivity in Scotland, he was head of strategy at a global wholesale network operator and head of mobile products at Virgin Media Business.
He said: “Joining Clarus has allowed me to work with most innovative technologies available. I’ve already seen how high-speed, low-latency connectivity can revolutionise industry by joining data to operations, including enabling real time monitoring to improve health and safety, reduce costs and lower carbon emissions.
“I’m excited to be connecting more businesses using Starlink and private 5G networks, playing a key part in Clarus’ integrated connectivity solution.”
Derek Phillips, group managing director at The Clarus Networks Group, said: “Clarus has experienced phenomenal growth this year, bringing Starlink to even more businesses around the world.
“Now is the perfect time to bring onboard Paul Coffey, a dynamic tech expert and telecoms leader, taking our connectivity offering to the next level.
“Paul is working with our experienced team to implement hybrid technology strategies for clients in all sectors.”
Clarus was established in 2014 by husband-and-wife team Derek and Debra Phillips, offering customers fully managed networking services to connect businesses with their teams across the world.
It works across a wide range of sectors to provide network design, installation, and support services.