Fixed line, cloud and mobile connectivity to meet any needs

November 29, 2024

image: ©Liudmyla Lishchyshyna | iStock

Spitfire Network Services Limited is an award-winning business internet and telecoms services provider with over 30 years’ experience. Sales Director Dominic Norton highlights some of the company’s solutions and services

Spitfire is a business-class provider of IoT and mobile services, fixed-line Internet connectivity, VoIP, and Wide- Area Networking (WAN) services. Founded in 1988 and now with offices in London and Birmingham, we aim to supply our customers with reliable and market-leading telecommunications services.

At the heart of our service is a multi- award-winning core network. Our fully resilient multi-node core network fibre ring spans four geographically diverse locations, providing customers and partners with on-net access to key UK data centres and a wide range of connectivity carrier options.

In October 2023, Spitfire announced a Full MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) agreement with the UK’s leading mobile network operator. This allows us to now deliver our transformational One Network solution, combining mobile, fixed line and Cloud connectivity in a ‘single supplier, single contract’ secure private network:

Fixed Line: Spitfire’s fixed line product portfolio is vast, with six wholesale suppliers for broadband connectivity and 12 different wholesale suppliers for Dedicated Fibre Ethernet connectivity. Options range from cost-effective SOGEA (formerly FTTC) and FTTP Broadband to high-quality but still cost-effective SOGEA and FTTP Ethernet and enterprise-grade Dedicated Fibre Ethernet to cater for the needs of any organisation. With market-leading performance SLAs on Ethernet products and premium-only broadband services, with Real Time Quality of Service (RTQoS) to support VoIP traffic, quality is at the heart of our connectivity. We aim to provide the easiest and quickest fixed-line circuit installation at the most competitive price anywhere in the UK. We want to be the provider that can always say “Yes”!

Cloud: Spitfire’s CloudConnect offers secure, high speed and low latency access to public Cloud environments such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. We can also utilise Equinix’s ECX fabric to extend the selection of service providers we can connect our customers’ networks to (e.g. Salesforce, Google Cloud, IBM Softlayer, etc.), or we can provide direct connectivity into a customer’s data centre to give a private connection from device to application, without traversing the public Internet.

Mobile: Our Enhanced Mobile product suite offers first-class connectivity, better security, and highly flexible and innovative billing plans using 4G/5G data and IoT connectivity. As a Full MVNO, we can route data traffic back to our own core network, which means our mobile SIMs are ideal for use within IoT ecosystems, no matter where your IoT devices are located, how they are dispersed, what tasks they perform, what data they send or where they send it to.

Spitfire customers can now obtain a single unified network across their entire mobile and fixed line estate for a true end-to-end solution without needing data to traverse the public Internet, improving security and manageability. The requirement for IPSec VPNs or similar networking security technology is potentially avoided, allowing for less equipment configuration time. Customers can even specify if a private APN network is needed or if they have any public or private IP address configuration requirements.

Full product and service suite

Along with our One Network connectivity solutions, Spitfire also specialises in providing Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) and MPLS WAN solutions, Cloud-hosted phone systems and other VoIP services, such as SIP Trunks. As a named supplier of the Network Services 3 Framework and with a product suite full of ways to futureproof public sector organisations against Openreach’s 2027 Big Switch Off, you are in safe hands with Spitfire:

FWaaS and MPLS: Protecting your network from Internet-borne threats should be of paramount concern to every organisation. Utilising Fortinet’s Fortigate firewall security and Unified Threat Management platform, Spitfire’s FWaaS service offers class-leading threat protection underpinned by Spitfire’s business-grade network and support services. FWaaS can be deployed for a single site or is commonly provided as part of a Spitfire MPLS WAN, creating a fully managed and secure private network to link multiple locations together. Connecting to our resilient multi-core network, MPLS WAN private data networks bring the benefits of simplicity, control and significant cost savings for your organisation. As the data circuits connect into a central ‘cloud’ rather than all to a specific site, the network is more flexible and resilient than using site-to-site leased lines or VPNs, which require expensive routers and configuration.

FireSwitchTM – Hosted PBX 2.2: Our latest fully featured hosted phone system, FireSwitchTM, is located in one of Spitfire’s secure data node facilities. From here, it connects to the Spitfire SIP network, a network isolated from the public Internet and purely dedicated to SIP voice traffic, with a direct interconnect to the public telephone network (PSTN). Our in-house engineering team has developed FireSwitchTM to provide a cost-effective and highly scalable Cloud telephony solution. We will continue to innovate this platform by adding exciting new functionality, ensuring that your organisation is futureproofed via a very simple and competitive pricing model.

Network Services 3: Spitfire was named as a supplier on Crown Commercial Service’s Network Services 3 (NS3) Framework (RM6116) in August 2023. This significant achievement grants Spitfire the opportunity to offer its cutting-edge solutions to UK public sector organisations, supporting the government’s ‘Cloud-first’ initiatives and revolutionising how they access, utilise, and leverage modern network services. Spitfire has been awarded Lot 1a: Inter-site Connectivity (Wide Area Network) / Data Access Services; Lot 4a: Analogue telephony (including SIP); and Lot 4b: Digital Communication Services (Unified Communications). This recognition underscores Spitfire’s deep understanding of the unique requirements of the UK public sector and its ability to deliver reliable, secure, and future-proof solutions.

The 2027 Big Switch Off: In 2027, the last elements of Openreach’s analogue and digital ISDN copper network will be turned off as an ‘All-IP’ network replaces these legacy services. The impact on telephony and broadband services is far-reaching, so you need to know how it will impact you and your organisation. The project has already begun, with the National ‘Stop Sell’ date of 5 September 2023 already having passed and The Big Switch Off itself happening at the end of January 2027, so don’t wait any longer to consider your options! With Spitfire’s range of connectivity and VoIP solutions, including a simple single-line replacement in our IP Voice product, we are ideally placed to assist you with the transition.