Huawei wins fight to build £1bn UK chip facility June 25, 2020 Huawei was today given the green light by planning authorities to build a £1bn research and development facility in Cambridgeshire. The 500-acre facility will hold around 400 staff, and be focused on the production of technology for use in fibre-optic communication systems. Once up and running, it will become Huawei’s international headquarters for its optical [...]
Virgin Media down: Broadband outage hits thousands working from home June 25, 2020 Virgin Media appeared to suffer an outage this morning, leaving thousands of customers working remotely without broadband. The broadband operator had not acknowledged the issue by 10.15am on Twitter despite a flood of angry complaints from customers. Downdetector, a website that records outages by tracking social media mentions, registered a surge of complaints of Virgin [...]
Google to pay select publishers for news content June 25, 2020 Google will begin paying some publishers for their news content, after regulators threatened to force the tech giant to share the revenue it receives from articles. Google’s vice president for news Brad Bender said it would start paying some publishers in Germany, Australia and Brazil for “high-quality content”, with talks continuing regarding licences in six [...]
Google to automatically delete search and location data June 25, 2020 Google will now automatically delete your search and location history after 18 months, as it attempts to assuage concerns from regulators that it controls too much information about individuals. Users will be able to toggle in their settings to wipe their data every three or 18 months, with the latter now automatically turned on. The [...]
Softbank boss steps down from Alibaba board June 25, 2020 Softbank Group chief executive Masayoshi Son is to step away from his position on the board of Alibaba, as he defended the firm’s financial health and prospects. Son said he sees the move as “graduating” from Alibaba, a month after the e-commerce firm’s founder Jack Ma resigned from his own position on Softbank’s board. Son [...]
Half of all equity investment goes to UK tech businesses June 25, 2020 Nearly half of the total equity investment in UK SMEs last year went to tech firms, as the sector continues to remain attractive to investors. Equity investment in the UK’s tech firms increased 27 per cent to £4bn in the last year, its highest level since 2011. The growing tech sector in the UK remains [...]
Small tech firms rake in record £4bn investment in 2019 – and deals continue despite coronavirus June 25, 2020 Equity investment in the UK’s smaller tech businesses soared to £4bn last year, the highest figure on record – and despite a coronavirus-induced slowdown, deals are still being done. The highest investment total ever meant that Britain’s tech companies enjoyed 27 per cent more funding than the previous year, according to the British Business Bank’s [...]
Britain’s tech scene ready to welcome foreign talent after Trump’s visa ban June 24, 2020 The UK stands to gain from US President Donald Trump’s visa ban that will prevent foreign talent from setting up shop on American soil, tech figures have told City A.M., providing new opportunities to entrepreneurs and highly-skilled workers. An executive order signed by Trump this week suspended foreign work permits such as the H1-B and [...]
Data breach fears raised over test and trace pubs register June 24, 2020 Cyber security experts have raised privacy fears over the potential for data breaches in the government’s plan to make pubs and restaurants keep a register of all visitors. Under new rules laid out yesterday, all hospitality venues must keep a guest register to record the contact details of visitors for 21 days to help track [...]
Softbank secures $14.8bn in first wave from T-Mobile US share sale June 24, 2020 Softbank is set to gain almost $15bn from the first in a series of transactions to unwind its stake in T-Mobile US, as it seeks to bolster its cash reserves following a major annual loss. T-Mobile said it has priced a sale of its shares at $103 each — a four per cent discount on [...]