Colt Technology Services Group Limited (formerly COLT Telecom Group S.A.)[2] is a multinational telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index until it was acquired by Fidelity Investments in August 2015. Colt was originally an acronym for City Of London Telecommunications.
 | |
| Industry | Telecoms, Managed services |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1992 in London |
| Founder | James Hynes |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
Area served | Europe United States Asia |
Key people | |
| Parent | Fidelity Investments |
| ASN | |
| Website | colt |
History
editColt was founded as City Of London Telecommunications in 1992 by James Hynes, with funds provided by Fidelity Investments.[3] The company began to construct a telecoms network in London.[3] In 1993 it was awarded a licence to compete with British Telecom and Cable and Wireless in voice and data transmission.[3] It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1996.[3] The group later expanded into Europe, building networks in major European cities over the next 10 years.[3]
In 2001, Fidelity helped the company raise a further £400m in financing, and acquired a majority share in it as part of a bailout agreement.[4] In April 2009, Colt completed an open offer, raising €199.1m before expenses.[5]
In May 2011 the company acquired a majority share in MarketPrizm, a provider of low-latency market data and trading infrastructure services.[6] In August 2012 Colt acquired a majority share in ThinkGrid, a cloud platform for delivery of hosted services.[7] On 12 November 2014, Colt acquired KVH, a Japanese telecoms company, helping Colt expand in the growing Asian market.[8] In August 2015 the company was fully acquired by Fidelity.[9] On 2 November 2022, Colt agreed to acquire Lumen Technologies' Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) business for $1.8 billion.[10] In August 2025, the company suffered a cyber attack in which the attacker was able to access customer data.[11]
Operations
editThe company's main centre of operations is in the United Kingdom.[12]
References
edit- ^ Mike Robuck (28 May 2020). "Q&A: Colt's new CEO is ready to blaze her own trail". Fierce Telecom. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ Colt Technology Services. "Colt name change". www.colt.net. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Colt Technology Services. "Colt History". www.colt.net. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
- ^ Kapner, Suzanne (4 October 2001). "Fidelity Investments Agrees To Help Rescue Colt". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
- ^ "Colt Telecom Group". www.gracesguide.co.uk. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
- ^ "Colt to buy MarketPrizm". www.finextra.com. 22 February 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
- ^ "Colt Buys ThinkGrid To Beef Up Its Small Enterprise Cloud Services Business". www.TechCrunch.com. 13 August 2012.
- ^ "Colt expands into Asia with KVH acquisition". www.telecomasia.net. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- ^ Pusey, Jack (12 August 2015). "Colt declares Fidelity takeover unconditional". www.channelnomics.eu. Archived from the original on 18 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- ^ "Colt splashes $1.8bn on Lumen's EMEA networks". Telecom TV. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
- ^ Colt Technology Services (20 August 2025). "Cyber Incident – Answering your key questions". www.colt.net. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
- ^ "Colt to exit carrier voice market". www.totaltele.com. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2014.