Blue Wave Communications, which was founded in 2007 by Isle of Man businessman Baggs, has been bought by aql.
Baggs, who became famous for catch phrases such as “everything I touch turns to sold”, set Blue Wave up with the objective of providing a greater choice of internet services to businesses and consumers on the island.
Insider Media are reporting that in more recent years, the Douglas-based company has grown to a customer base of several thousand subscribers and operates a fixed and wireless broadband service.
Baggs died at the end of July this year following an asthma attack.
He had worked closely with aql as a customer and partner for many years and had deployed similar technology on the Isle of Man to that deployed by aql. He had also collaborated on several Wifi projects with aql’s development teams.
aql chief executive Dr Adam Beaumont said: “I’ve known Stuart for nearly a decade and I’ve seen his hard work and commitment build up a business with a great deal of respect and goodwill within the local community. These values are strong within aql and I felt that we wanted to make sure that the staff and customers of BlueWave would continue, along with the BlueWave brand. aql has now acquired BlueWave as a going concern.”
BlueWave had just rolled out 4G broadband services which aql also intends to support. The company will continue to be managed locally by the same BlueWave team.
“For now, it’s about stabilisation – making sure we understand the systems, customers and building in resilience,” said Dr Beaumont. “Once we have developed a robust platform, we’ll continue BlueWave’s rollout across the Island, along with expansion into other service areas. The guys in Douglas now have a much bigger team behind them.”
aql will also be establishing a discretionary fund from BlueWave profits to help budding entrepreneurs with small funds to explore their first idea or prototype. Applicants under the age of 27 will be eligible to apply.
