History

15 years ago, we were a small business start up with just £20,000 to our name

Back in 1995, when dial up internet was the forefront of the industry, Devon man Mark Lang mustered up £20,000 to put into his new business: Eclipse Internet.

He started small - as a South West ISP - but the success of Mark's enterprise meant Eclipse soon went on to become a national broadband provider.

Eclipse became known for its high-tech product line

Mark Lang was passionate about technology - and tempted to push the boundaries.  In an age of dial-up, he put Eclipse at the cutting edge of the newly emerging technology - pioneering broadband provision from its earliest days.  It was a risk - but it paid off.

In 2002, Eclipse became the first ISP to offer online ordering for SDSL as well.

We specialised in what we do best

After the broadband boom, Eclipse decided to specialise in order to retain its reputation for first class service and support, and high-performing products.

As a former small business start up, Eclipse has focussed on providing tried and tested, proven technology to suit this market, and in 2003 these efforts were rewarded with the ISPA Best Business Broadband ISP Award.

We speculated to accumulate

In 2004 we became part of the KCOM Group.  It wasn't about being swallowed up by a big corporation though.  Eclipse is still fiercely independent - but the partnership gives us great backing.  It allows Eclipse access to the UK's biggest internet network and means we can tailormake blue-chip technology for the SME market. 

That year, we also achieved two more industry firsts: the launch of boostable broadband speeds, and the provision of a public Wifi service.

We made our customers proud to recommend us

The key to Eclipse's huge success, and growth, has been customer recommendations.  That's why you might not have heard of us before.  We've been lucky enough not to have to fork out for expensive and self-indulgent ad campaigns.  Our customers have been proud to recommend us.

In 2005, we launched our referrer scheme - and celebrated our 10th birthday with the Best Heavy Business Broadband Provider award at the ISPA Awards.

We expanded our portfolio

By 2007, Eclipse was no longer a connectivity provider alone.  We'd looked to our target market, listened to you, our customers, and launched an extended range of products including backup, web hosting and eCommerce.

We also made another industry first:  first ISP to offer customers control over their connection - prioritising broadband traffic.

We're still future proofing our business

We're passionate about providing the best the industry has to our customers - and to do this, we need to stay ahead of the game.

We already provide the latest in proven technology but our partnerships with KCOM and BT allow us fast access to emerging, tested innovation.

That's why we're proud of announcing our part in providing fibre broadband across the UK's new network back in 2009 - something we're continuing to expand on today.

We're 15 years old!

From dial up to fibre, and from a £20,000 start up to one of the most successful ISPs in the country, Eclipse been lucky enough to become a major player in one of the most exciting emerging industries of our time.

Here's to the next 15 years!