PokerStars have inked a contract extension with broadband and telecommunications experts Manx, and Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov proposes to his girlfriend Anna on top of a volcano with a very long name.
PokerStars and Isle of Man broadband and telecommunications lords and masters Manx Telecommunications have shook hands on a deal that will see them take care of the world’s largest online poker room’s wires and stuff for another three years. The pair have been in business together since 2005.
As part of the deal, a total of 48 data hosting racks and associated equipment will be relocated from offices in Dublin to Manx’s state of the art Tier 3 Greenhill Data Center. The new facility opened at the beginning of the year as part of a £10 million three phase project designed to make the fortress the biggest on the island.
Manx Telecoms CEO Gary Lamb said the new PokerStars contract was ‘excellent news’ and ‘enhances our reputation as a world class hosting provider.’ With the contract extension out of the way the HgCapital owned telecoms company can now start work on phase two of the project. It’s scheduled to last three months.
Manx Telecom was created by British Telecom in 1986 and won the initial 20-year license to take over telecommunications from the British General Post Office on the Isle of Man. UK private equity investor HgCapital took over the firm in June 2010, and they were floated on the AIM market in 2014. At the time of writing the share price is 2.02% at 197.40p.
Manx has so far invested over £50m in telecoms infrastructure on the island.
Eugene Katchalov Proposes on the Top of a Volcano
Once upon a time Eugene Katchalov was being considered as a contestant on the Ukrainian version of The Bachelor.
There was only one problem.
He weighed 230 pounds.
“I realized it wasn’t going to look too good if I was overweight on the show.” Katchalov told Men’s Fitness magazine at the time, “I wanted to increase my chances.”
Katchalov went on to lose 180 pounds. He never was selected to appear on the show, and he will never again be considered. The Team PokerStars pro is getting married.
In true baller style Katchalov flew his girlfriend Anna to the top of an Icelandic volcano called Eyjafjallajökull – you know the one that exploded in 2010 sending the European airspace into a tizz – where he got down on one knee and proposed.
It was a happy moment.
It was a freezing cold moment.
The only problem is neither Anna nor Eugene will ever be able to pronounce the place where they officially decided to tie the knot without spitting on people’s faces.
