The company was formed in 1996 as the Internet Service Provider Consortium with a remit to provide reliable core transit facilities. The company changed its name to Network-i in 1998 when the consortium members sold a controlling majority of the shares to the management team, headed by Barry Reynolds, a former finance director at British Gas. Under his stewardship, the company established a carrier class datacentre on Slough Trading Estate and began to offer broadband services and hosting facilities. In early 2000, Reynolds ceded responsibility for running the company to Sandeep Sharma, a conferencing industry veteran.
