Xtel Europe was founded in 1996 when Oftel, the Government regulatory office for telecommunications, de-regulated the rules governing the trade on telephone system maintenance. Its parent company, Klineworth Ltd, had invested heavily in the pre '96 telephone system maintenance arena and gained vital experience dating back to its formation in 1989; placing it perfectly for the launch of a new breed of telecoms company - Xtel Europe. The days of simple telephone and telex had been replaced by facsimile, mobile voice and more importantly the alternative carrier, bringing with it initially indirect voice access at a greatly reduced cost. After this, such products as direct connections for high spending voice customers, private circuits for dedicated data with security and latterly frame relay to reduce costs for data transfer across multi sites. It has not ended there, the voice & data worlds have merged, driving the development of computer telephone integration, these data circuits may as well carry voice! All of this stirred Britain's incumbent carrier BT and, as Oftel had intended, competition was now driving down costs and serving as a catalyst for innovative products and services.