Unipalm was a U.K.-based company that operated between 1986 and 2003 that specialised in networking different computers together using

TCP/IP The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the set of communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suit ...

technology and was an early promoter of internet technology.

History

Unipalm Ltd was founded as a software reseller in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

in 1986 by

Peter Dawe Peter Dawe OBE (born 1954 or 1955) is a British entrepreneur known for founding Pipex, the UK's first ever commercial internet service provider, and the Internet Watch Foundation. Business ventures After studying management at Cambridge Col ...

, later forming

PIPEX Pipex was the United Kingdom's first commercial Internet service provider (ISP). It was formed in 1990 and helped to develop the ISP market in the UK. In 1992 it began operating a 64k transatlantic leased line and built a connection to the UK gov ...

in 1990, as the first commercial

ISP An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

in the UK. In its very early days, their office was in Hardwick, Cambridgeshire (UK) In March 1994 ''Unipalm Group Plc'' floated on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

, the purpose of the flotation was to expand the growth of ''The Public I.P. Exchange Ltd'' (

Pipex Pipex was the United Kingdom's first commercial Internet service provider (ISP). It was formed in 1990 and helped to develop the ISP market in the UK. In 1992 it began operating a 64k transatlantic leased line and built a connection to the UK gov ...

). In July 1995 the company changed its trading name to Unipalm-Pipex. ''Unipalm PIPEX'' was sold to

UUNet UUNET, founded in 1987, was one of the largest Internet service providers and one of the early Tier 1 networks. It was based in Northern Virginia and was one of the first commercial Internet service providers. Today, UUNET is an internal brand ...

in November 1995 for GBP150 million, where it became

UUNET/PIPEX Pipex was the United Kingdom's first commercial Internet service provider (ISP). It was formed in 1990 and helped to develop the ISP market in the UK. In 1992 it began operating a 64k transatlantic leased line and built a connection to the UK gov ...

. Dawe became Head of European Operations for UUNet Inc., with over 400 staff. Dawe left UUNet in July 1996. In 1996 it was reported that Unipalm-Pipex was the largest

internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

in Europe. In December 1996, Mark Norman led a successful management buy out of Unipalm. This re-established Unipalm as a separate company, moving location to offices in Newmarket, Suffolk. The company focussed on IP software distribution and services. In May 2000, German based company Computerlinks AG acquired 100% of the shares of Unipalm. The company maintained a high level of independence until 2003 when the Unipalm name was dropped and began trading as Computerlinks UK. Unipalm changed its name to Computerlinks in 2006.

History

See also

References

Further reading